SpaceQ Space news and analysis.

The steadily increasing cost of micro satellite launch services has reached the point that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is seriously considering the development of an indigenous launch system. In late November they issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a strategic analysis of the market.

This week in space for Canada is all about collecting useful pieces of information in order to discern developing patterns coalescing around the Canadian space industry. To that end, we’ll be using disjointed reports from unusual sources, incomplete information from established news outlets and passing comments from experts both acknowledged and otherwise.

Leave it to Sir Richard Branson to put on a show. A lavish unveiling was scheduled for SpaceShipTwo now known as Virgin Mothership (VMS) Eve carrying Virgin Space Ship (VSS) Enterprise. Unfortunately mother nature was not being co-operative with strong winds and a frigid night with even the possibility of snow. Leaving the theatrics behind after a roll-out of the VMS Eve carrying VSS Enterprise …

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) aims to troubadour through venues across the country, spreading information about what it is like to live on the International Space Station, courtesy of a $1.25-million solicitation it awarded to Expographiq (aka Crecan International Ltd.) in late November for an exhibit called “Living in Space”.

This week in space for Canada is all about celebrating the final return of the last Canadian scheduled to go into space for at least the next five years, contemplating what the future might hold and maybe, just maybe making plans to help mold that future into something useful.

Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Robert Thirsk, Expedition 21 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank De Winne undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from the station at 10:56 p.m. EST Monday and landed in Kazakhstan at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday, 1:15 p.m. local Kazakhstan time. The Soyuz spacecraft landed upright which helped the search and recovery teams extract the astronauts.

This week in space for Canada is all about trial balloons released from the Canadian Forces (CF) and a variety of civilian experts regarding Canadian capabilities to monitor, protect and defend our arctic sovereignty at the recently concluded Canadian Space Summit, held this past weekend at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

Next Tuesday Robert Thirsk will return to Earth on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft ending his six month stay on the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 21. In his last week in space he will be very busy with ongoing experiments but will no doubt have time to reflect on the past six months and among those thoughts will be the realization that …

Space journalist Elizabeth Howell was among the 100 attendees at the first NASA launch tweetup at the Kennedy Space Center, Nov. 16, 2009. With a golden flash, space shuttle Atlantis punched through the first cloud hanging between the pad and her destination in Earth orbit.