In the recently announced budget the government had announced $80.9 million in new funding for the Canadian Space Agency over five years. We now know a little more about the projects the funds will go to.
Read More »Space Day at Western University Reveals Out of the Silo Thinking
Western University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy hosted its third annual Space Day last Wednesday, April 5. The event highlighted current research by undergraduate and graduate students from the faculties of Science, Engineering, and Social Science who work with the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration.
Read More »Ex-Alta 1 Will be the First Satellite from Alberta to Launch Into Space Next Week
Next Monday, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida with the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. The cargo will include the first ever satellite from Alberta, Experimental Albertan #1 or Ex-Alta 1, a CubeSat which …
Read More »Op Ed – The Government Should Support Canada Becoming a Small Satellite Manufacturing Hub
Recently, there has been noteworthy news related to small satellites. First and significantly, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released details of new applications from companies wanting to deploy constellations of small satellites, most in non-geostationary orbits (NGSO). This included applications from two Canadian companies, Kepler Communications and Telesat. The total number of planned NGSO satellites in applications filled since June of this year, is …
Read More »Details Emerge on Kepler Communications and Telesat Small Satellite Constellations
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released details this week of applicants seeking to build a variety of satellite constellations. The most dramatic application came from SpaceX who are looking to build 4,425 small satellites to be used in low earth orbit. From the Canadian perspective, there were two applications, that of Kepler Communications who are based out of Toronto, and Ottawa’s Telesat.
Read More »SpaceRef to Broadcast Live ISRO Launch of M3MSat and CLAIRE Satellites
On Tuesday, June 21 2016 at 11:57 p.m. EDT (0357 UTC) the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-34) carrying 20 satellites. Two of those satellites are Canadian, M3MSat and GHGSat. You can watch the launch live on SpaceRef.
Read More »Canadian Greenhouse Gas and Air Quality Small Satellite CLAIRE Set for Launch
A Canadian demonstration small satellite, CLAIRE by GHGSat, is scheduled to launch on June 21 at 23:57 p.m. EDT (June 22, 03:57 GMT) on an Indian rocket as part of a secondary payload of smaller satellites to be launched. The primary payload is the Indian Cartosat 2C high-resolution earth observation developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Read More »OneWeb Could Make 100% Broadband Coverage to Remote Canadian Communities Available and Affordable
The CRTC is currently holding hearings on the topic of reliable, affordable broadband Internet. For the majority of Canadians, access to broadband is not an issue. However for many, especially in rural and northern areas, access and affordability is a big issue. OneWeb explained the key technical issues and provided some suggestions on how the Government might want to move forward.
Read More »OneWeb Selects Florida as Manufacturing Hub but Opportunity Still Exists for Canadian Companies
It comes as no surprise that OneWeb Satellites, the joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb, selected Florida as its manufacturing base for the majority of the 900 satellites it wants to build. Rumour of an impending deal was circulating as early February. Now that the deal is done, it doesn’t preclude Canadian companies providing parts or services to OneWeb.
Read More »New Canadian Small Satellite Conference Caters to a Growing Demand
The advent of small satellites is not new. For several years small satellites have been on the rise. However, 2015 can be seen as the year small satellite constellations leapt to the forefront of the news with the announcements by OneWeb to launch 900 small satellites and SpaceX to launch up to 4,000 small satellites.
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