Tag Archives: Remote Sensing Space Systems Act

Changes to the space regulatory environment in Canada, including the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA), has and will continue to take time. To provide some insight into the process, we present the following update from Michelle Mendes from the Satellite Canada Innovation Network (SatCan) who was a member of the RSSSA Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee.

Back in 2018, SpaceQ asked "can the RSSSA (Remote Sensing Space Systems Act) keep up with the growing smallsat community?" Now, in 2022, a new comprehensive report mandated by law and produced by Space Strategies Consulting Ltd (SSCL) indicates the answer is "only with dramatic changes.” This page is for subscribers only. Already a subscriber? Log in. Fact-driven space news, columns, business, policy, technology and …

The government of Canada is mandated by law to conduct an independent review of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA), Canada's de facto "space law," every five years. This time, the Ottawa based consulting company Space Strategies Consulting Ltd. (SSCL) has been selected. The previous two reviews were conducted by the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University. This page is for …

As we previously mentioned, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has been working on two guides related to the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA). The effort has been part of a larger process to enact regulatory reform to deal with the current reality of a fast growing space sector. The first of those guides has now been published. This page is for subscribers only. Already a …

In 2017 the second independent review of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSA) was published. The report outlined its findings and recommendations providing a path forward to modernizing the RSSSA. Now, almost four years later, SpaceQ has learned that the first two space regulatory reform guides are set to be published, likely this month. This page is for subscribers only. Already a subscriber? Log …

At the Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, Global Affairs Canada provided an update on their review and analysis of the two independent reviews (2012, 2017) of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. As some of you may recall SpaceQ had an exclusive story on the second review which was published in April 2017. This page is for subscribers only. Already a subscriber? Log in. Fact-driven …

SpaceQ is considering hosting a Space Regulatory Roundtable in early to mid-September, likely in Ottawa, to bring the space community together for a one day forum to discuss the space regulatory environment in Canada and the potential for regulatory reform during the next government mandate.

The federal government finally announced its new space strategy. It has been a long-time coming (16 years, to be exact) and has generated mixed reactions.

Recently at the Canadian SmallSat Symposium both Planet and KSAT threatened to pull ground station assets out of Canada by June 1 if progress hadn’t been made in approving their licenses. Then news came from New North Networks, the company which manages the ground station infrastructure in Inuvik, that they had heard from Global Affairs Canada and that an approval of sorts had been received. …

Planet took the opportunity while presenting at the Canadian SmallSat Symposium to deliver a very public ultimatum to Global Affairs Canada. Either there is measurable progress on licensing of their ground stations in Inuvik by June 1, or they will dismantle them and leave Canada. And they weren’t the only company to threaten this action.