November 2011 Archives

ABB Canada will provide key technologies in the development of an instrument to be used to make meteorological observations onboard satellites for the Canadian Space Agency's Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) mission.

At 10:02 a.m. Eastern time on a beautiful fall day a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), otherwise known as the Mars Curiosity rover, was launched on its nine month journey to Mars. On board is a Canadian contribution in the form of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument.

A Request For Proposal (RFP) was released this week by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that will result in the display of the Canadian-built Canadarm which flew on the space shuttle Endeavour at its headquarters in St Hubert Qubec.

The following is an excerpt from an article that appears in the next issue of Space Quarterly Magazine to be released on December 1. Following the excerpt is the table of contents for both the Canadian and U.S. editions.

Moon, Mars or Bust, Canada's Space Sector at a Crossroads Again

A little over three years ago Jim Prentice, then the Minister of Industry, named Dr. Steve MacLean President of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The day after announcing MacLean as President he made the following statement as part of speech on Canadian Space Policy;

Expedition 29 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov, NASA Flight Engineer Dan Burbank and Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin launched on the Russian Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft on November 14, 2011, (November 13 in the United States) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin a two-day journey to the International Space Station.

Expedition 29 has been given the green light for launch today at 11:13 p.m. EST to the International Space Station. Onboard the Soyuz spacecraft will be Commander Anton Shkaplerov, NASA Flight Engineer Dan Burbank and Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin.

Thirty years ago this month, Canada's contribution to the US manned spaceflight program flew on its first mission. The (Space) Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) flew on the second space shuttle mission, STS-2 and was tested on the second day of the flight - November 13, 1981

The Canadian Space Agency is preparing for a possible budget cut, one which could significantly affect the agency. The possible cut comes as no surprise. After all, the government has indicated many times this year that cuts to all departments were possible. What was not expected is the possible size of the cuts.

The Canadian Space Agency released its 2010 State of the Canadian Space Sector Report yesterday. The report indicates that revenues in the sector were up 14% over the 2009 and reached $3.4 billion and that 692 new positions were added to the sector, an increase of 9.2%.

At the First Canadian Aerospace Summit hosted by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada in Ottawa yesterday a distinguished group of leaders was brought together for the Canadian Aerospace Leaders Panel moderated by Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Dr. Steve MacLean. The theme of the panel was "Does Canada need an aerospace industrial base?" The message from industry leaders was clear, for industry to be successful the government must play an important role, especially when it comes to helping industry with foreign markets. There are opportunities but there is also risk as the domestic market is small and can't sustain the industry on its own.

For the first China has docked two of its spacecraft the Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 space lab module.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (TSX:MDA) reported strong earnings for the third quarter of 2011 with revenues increasing to $182 million compared to $167 million for the same period last year. MDA was boosted in the third quarter by U.S. operations and medical robotics.

The following article first appeared in the first issue of our new magazine Space Quarterly on September 1, 2011. With the opening today of the First Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa we thought it appropriate to publish this article online. The next issue of Space Quarterly will be published December 1. Subscribe to the digital or print edition for more in-depth coverage of the Canadian space systems sector.