The Commercial Space blog is taking a break for the next two weeks to enjoy the holidays and begin preparing for the next Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) meeting on January 12th, 2012 at the law offices of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and the upcoming CSCA national conference in Ottawa during the last week in March, 2012.
Until then, feel free to start enjoying the festive season with this sample of holiday cheer from the parody cover band Sponge Awareness Foundation, using their best Gun's N' Roses voices.
The Commercial Space blog will be back with all new articles and commentary, beginning on January 3rd, 2012.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Dancing with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight
Here's something you never used to come across, but could soon be noticing with increasing frequency.
The article quotes Kjell Stakkestad, the president of Arizona based KinetX Inc., as stating that the American business climate is "killing our industry" and the only way to grow new business is to develop international contacts and cost sharing agreements independent of traditional US government sources of funding. He was in Montreal last week attending the Aéro Montréal, conference on aviation innovation.
Stakkestad certainly isn't the only American who thinks that the current American concerns and regulations are damaging to American industry.
He states unequivocally that, when it it comes to the satellite launch market:
If we look at the data to date, the situation today doesn't look too good, at least for the satellite launch market.
Back in the 1980's, the U.S. had almost 100% of the commercial launch market. During the 5-year period from 1996-2000, we had 40% of the global market share. From 2001-2005, the U.S had fallen to 22% of the market. During the most recent 5-year period, from 2006-2010, we were down to 16% of the global market, significantly behind both Russia and Europe. Clearly, we no longer appear to be able to compete internationally, at least with our current launchers.
Probably the biggest reason for this is cost, but there are also questions about being able to get a launch slot on the range, and the overall nature of the commercial customer experience, given the temptation for U.S. launch providers to focus on their primary government customers, NASA and the DoD.
He states that, while there is some cause for long-term optimism:
...for the next several years, we will be completely dependent on the Russians to take our astronauts to and from the Space Station. Although several companies are eager to show that they can do the job as part of the Commercial Crew Development Program, the limited amount of money that has been allocated to the program to date calls into question, at least for me, whether we are really serious about maintaining a robust U.S. human spaceflight capability.
The rest of the presentation is a sensible overview of the current US situation and analysis of several potential new markets expected to open up over the next few years. If Nield is correct in his overall assessment, we should be expecting quite a few more US companies to visit Canada over the next few years.
After that, the CSA funding ceases. The projects are then expected to wind down as the project teams are laid off or reassigned.
This is because the rovers presently have no mission or any real expectation of finding one before the deadline is reached. The article quotes Neptec President Ian Christie as stating:
Neptec has spent time, money and much effort developing an expertise in rover exploration – all finite resources for which the company seeks a return. Now, it is at risk of letting rover employees go or reassigning them after the funding ends, losing the expertise the technicians built up during the last two years.
Three CSA contracts awarded to Toronto based Engineering Services Inc. (ESI) in 2010 to develop robotic arms, control stations and exploration tools for integration into terrestrial prototypes of lunar or martian rovers (as described in my October 25th, 2010 post "Overnight Success Plus IP Rights") also have no follow-on programs and are likely to wind down at the same time.
Which all sounds really sad.
However, as explained most recently in my April 9th, 2011 edition of "This Week in Space for Canada," the CSA rover contracts were always intended simply to "position" Canada in such a way that if Canada's space exploration partners ever get around to agreeing on a rover mission to the Moon (or Mars), then Canada could potentially contribute.
Of course, that positioning seems not to have worked in this case and so the program is winding down.
It's worth noting that multiple martian rovers have been developed and (usually) successfully deployed by a variety of international players over the last forty years, so the technology can hardly be considered cutting edge. These include:
The unsuccessful 1971 Soviet Union Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions, which both utilized a Prop-M rover. Mars 2 crashed into the Martian surface and Mars 3 failed less than a minute after landing.
The Sojourner rover, aboard the Mars Pathfinder mission, which landed successfully on July 4th, 1997 and functioned until September 27th, 1997.
The Spirit or Mars Exploration Rover A (MER-A), which landed successfully on January 4th, 2004 and functioned for nearly six years before its wheels were trapped in the Martian sand. Communication was lost with Spirit on March 22nd, 2010.
The Opportunity or Mars Exploration Rover B (MER-B), which landed successfully on January 25, 2004 and is still operational.
As well, there is the NASA built Mars Science Laboratory (known as Curiosity), which launched on November 26th, 2011 and is expected to land on Mars between August 6th - 20th, 2012 and the ExoMars rover, designed and developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), which is expected to launch for Mars in 2018.
There are also several successful lunar rovers going back to the first use of a manned rover as part of the US Apollo 15 mission in 1972 and the 1973 unmanned Soviet Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2 rovers.
In 2014, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to land two motorized lunar rovers (one Indian and one Russian built) as part of its second Chandrayaan mission. No Canadian input is expected for this mission.
Even the Google Lunar X Prize, a competition offering a $30 million award for the first privately funded team to land a robotic probe on the Moon and then travel across its surface to send back specified images and other data, will likely not be utilizing any CSA built rover technology.
As noted in my July 4th, 2011 post "Ground Control to Marc Garneau," our erstwhile ex-CSA president and current MP for the riding of Westmount—Ville-Marie, along with quite a few others associated with the CSA, have been publicly advocating the building of Canadian rovers for at least the last ten years.
But the Garneau rover plan wrapped the little machines around a proposal to double CSA funding and use this extra money to develop an all-Canadian robotic Mars mission which would actually use the developed rover technology.
The new mission was also intended to "stimulate the country's space industry during uncertain times for North American space programs" and develop new, follow-on applications for the rovers after their usefulness and functionality was demonstrated by the Mars mission.
But without an appropriate budget, the CSA is forced to flail about seemingly without direction by implementing a rover development program under the assumption that some one else has a scheduled mission to Mars or the Moon, but has forgotten to build their own rovers.
Since this doesn't seem to have happened, we're going to need to either let this specific program die or try building something else.
Or maybe, just maybe, we could find our Canadian rovers a proper Canadian mission to accomplish. We have until March 2012 to decide.
Innovative wheel assembly for Google Lunar X-Prize competitor Plan-B, an initiative from privately funded Canadian company Adobri Solutions Ltd.
The Polar Communications & Weather Mission
According to rumours circulating around Canadian Space Agency (CSA) headquarters, impending CSA budget cuts expected to occur next March, will essentially eviscerate all new initiatives, leaving only the federally supported RADARSAT Constellation program for the CSA to administer.
As described in my July 27th, 2009 post "MDA Signs Contract For Polar Communications and Weather Mission," the PCW mission "is designed to facilitate Canadian operations in the north and support Canadian sovereignty by providing reliable and continuous space-based communications services and timely meteorological information." The mission would consist of two satellites in molniya-type orbits, supported by one northern ground station and connected to communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit with other connections to various portions of the telecommunications infrastructure.
According to the "Polar Communication and Weather mission (PCW)" overview on the CSA website, the PCW mission will cover portions of Canadian territory which are not covered by the current crop of geostationary communications satellites (GEO) in order to ensure 24/7 communications, plus accurate short term weather and long term climate forecasts.
According to the February 10th, 2010 BBC News article "Nasa rides 'bucking bronco' to Mars," the MSL "weighs almost a tonne, has cost more than $2bn and, in 2013, it will be lowered on to the surface of Mars with a landing system that has never been tried before." The article goes on to state that the first official cost estimate for the project was set out in 2003 in a document published by the United States National Research Council (NRC), which said that the MSL would be a "medium price" project with a total cost of under $650M USD's. The size of the rover (comparable to a small automobile) was dictated by the need to "lay the foundations for future missions that will eventually bring pieces of the Red Planet back home to Earth."
It is expected that analysis of the data from APXS could help determine if Mars ever supported microbial life. According to wikipedia, the APXS will do this by analyzing samples of the Martian soil, irradiating them with alpha particlesand then mapping the spectra of any re-emitted x-rays. The APXS uses a particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE), which has previously been used by the Mars Pathfinder and the Mars Exploration Rovers.
According to the CSA Backgrounder on "APXS: Canada’s contribution to Mars Science Laboratory" the APXS sensor head "will be mounted at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. It will be used regularly during the mission by being placed against the surface of a sample" then emitting alpha particles and x-rays from a Curium based source. Since each element in the sample is stimulated to emit well defined energy signature, "APXS then measures the characteristic x-ray radiation to determine the sample’s composition."
This perception is likely wrong. To get some sense of why this is so and how this is going to effect the Canadian space systems industry, we need to look at the history of the current legislation.
According to the January 9th, 2006 Space Review article "A short history of export control policy," all items related to US satellites have traditionally been controlled by the US Department of State, which defines them as munitions or "potential weapons" and therefore subject to ITAR approval as a condition of sale. Since the US government doesn't officially want to sell weapons to an enemy, the ITAR compliance process was explicitly designed to be long, complex, expensive and thorough in order to disqualify the wrong applicants.
Ronald & Nancy Reagan in China in 1984.
But beginning in the late 1980's and under pressure from the Reagan and Bush administrations (who were themselves under pressure from US based manufacturers looking to sell satellites and satellite components to the Chinese, Europeans and others) this policy began to evolve to a point where satellite components were perceived of as being "dual-use" items, which could have both civilian and military applications.
This revision would have brought the American definition into alignment with international definitions (which grew out of the industrial "dual-use" list originally maintained during the cold-war era by the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls) and helped to facilitate international sales of US satellites and components.
Unfortunately, after a series of promising but false starts and flip flops, all items related to US satellites continue to remain controlled by the US Department of State, which still defines them as munitions or "potential weapons" and therefore subject to ITAR approval as a condition of sale.
But the concept of "dual-use" remains and an entire consulting industry has grown up around the issues surrounding ITAR compliance and navigating the nooks and crannies of the existing legislation. Below is an example of the wealth of ITAR compliance services available and accessible with a simple Google search.
Even worse, the November 13th, 2011 Mother Jones article "In Praise of Simple Regulations," goes so far as to suggest that large corporations benefit from complex regulations (such as ITAR) and often lobby for complexity because the cost of compliance serves as a barrier to entry for new competitors.
Some businesses are bigger than others. Some businesses can afford to hire as their lobbyists the very staffers who wrote the bill whose implementation is now being hammered out. Some businesses can afford to hire $500-an-hour lawyers to navigate the rules.
Some businesses cannot.
So, if you're a big business, even if you don't like a law, you can be confident that you'll survive it better than your smaller competitors will. And that's one reason why the biggest businesses often favor regulation in the first place while smaller guys oppose it.
The article also quotes space pundit and Transterrestrial Musings author Rand Simberg as tweeting "this is why it's hard to reform ITAR," and then going on to state that "Boeing et al view it as barrier to entry. They can afford legal staff to deal with ITAR rules. Startups can't."
As of now, the prime contractor for the Canadian on-orbit satellite servicing proposal (BC based MacDonald Dettwiler) has no idea if it will be allowed to compete against far less experienced US competitors for this logical follow-on use for iconic CanadArm technology.
Perhaps, what Canada really needs right now, is an ITAR Free CanadArm.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Space Summits, Communication Networks and the CanadArms Final Resting Place
Here's a short list of items currently being tracked for the Commercial Space blog:
The Canadian Space Summit.
The Canadian Space Society expects over 200 space industry professionals and enthusiasts to converge in Calgary, AB from November 23rd - 25th for the 2011 Canadian Space Summit. The theme is "Big Data from Space and Earth: Challenges and Opportunities" which is a reference to how the data collected through GPS, GIS and remote sensing creates data sets so large that they become awkward to work with using traditional database management tools. The whole question of the use of "big data" is also complicated by the many new data sources which include high resolution remotely sensed imagery, synthetic aperture radar, LiDAR, GPS and others. The conference will include technical sessions on various topics including space commercialization, exploration, life science, education, Earth orbit, astronomy and law and policy.
Defence Minister MacKay.
As discussed in my January 3rd, 2011 post "Advocating DND & CSA Rockets" there has been recent and strong advocacy from both the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Department of National Defence (DND) to fund a Canadian micro-satellite rocket launcher in support of DND communications and space situational awareness requirements. But now, it looks like at least some of the money needed to fund this sort of program will be going south to contribute to a very similar US program. Even worse, according to the November 21st, 2011 Postmedia News article "Military satellite project sparks secrecy concerns," the possible Canadian participation in the US lead Wideband Global SATCOM system has opposition politicians questioning what the program is intended to accomplish, the secrecy surrounding it and who will ultimately control the communications capabilities and/or "cyber-crime" fighting components derived from the program. The Canadian component, valued initially at $477 million CDN and operating under the title "Global Mercury" was announced by Defence Minister Peter MacKay earlier this month, according to the November 14th, 2011 Postmedia News article "Canada puts up $477 million to foil cyber attacks" which included government statements that the program would focus on countering attempts by foreign governments to penetrate military and other government computer systems. However, the US Air Force Space Command Factsheet on Wideband Global SATCOM defines the program as intending to provide "flexible, high-capacity communications for the Nation's warfighters" and mentions no cyber-crime fighting capabilities. According to Postmedia News "Defence sources say the U.S. will control the satellites but allow Canada to transmit information over the system. The rush to sign on to the satellite program was sparked by an ultimatum given to Canada that if it wanted to be involved, it was required to sign a funding agreement by the end of this year."
Speaking of CSA lobbying, the agency has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to set up and display the retired shuttle remote manipulator system (SRMS) or CanadArm from the space shuttle Endeavuor, at CSA headquarters in St Hubert Québec. According to the November 17th, 2011 Spaceref.ca article "Canadian Space Agency Requests Proposals To Display Canadarm At St. Hubert Headquarters" the maximum value of the contract is set at $200,000 CDN. It will be interesting to see if the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, which was originally supposed to receive the CanadArm (until the CSA intervened), or the Downsview based Canadian Air and Space Museum (presently facing the Federal government threat of being closed and converted into a hockey rink) will end up submitting an RPF bid. Certainly both facilities have more expertise to support historical artifacts than does the CSA.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Space Based Solar Power Findings Finally Released
The US based National Space Society (NSS) and Space Canada, an Ontario based not-for-profit organization advocating space based solar power, are jointly trumpeting recently released findings on what they call a "ground-breaking space solar power study," according to the November 15th, 2011 post on the NSS blog titled "National Space Society Hails Space Solar Power Study Findings."
But of course, the real story isn't so much related to the findings (which were perilously close to being preordained given the longtime public advocacy of the major contributors) but instead involve the potential for international political advocacy that follows from a public report which collects together most of the major literature into a single, referenced document.
According to Colonel M.V. "Coyote" Smith, the Director of the US Air Force Center for Strategy and Technology Project Blue Horizons and a Professor of Strategic Space Studies at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS):
The long view for Space-Based Solar Power is to develop it into a global wireless power transfer system using the concepts Nikola Tesla demonstrated even before the turn of the 20th Century.
With investments made now, at the turn of the 22nd Century a system of SBSP Satellites on orbit will broadcast safe, clean, electrical energy directly to all devices, vehicles, homes, and businesses on the planet — wirelessly. No wars for energy, plenty of power for desalination, a cleaner environment, fair resource sharing on the planet, and a thriving space economic sector.
Isn't this what government and industry should be working for?
It's taken the major players three years to get to this point. It will be interesting to see their next step.
Of particular interest to the space systems industry will be a "non-partisan and cross party discussion" among former scientists and current members of parliament on the interface between science and government. The discussion will include Dr. Marc Garneau, the current MP for Westmount-Ville-Marie and the former head of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Others on the panel include Helene LeBlanc, the MP for LaSalle-Emard and the NDP Science and Technology critic, Dr. Kellie Leitch, the MP for Simcoe-Grey, Dr Reza Moridi, the provincial MPP for Richmond Hill, Ontario and perhaps even Dr. Moira Stilwell, the MLA for Vancouver-Langara, BC who has been invited (but hasn't yet accepted). The panel will be introduced and concluded by Pierre Meulien, the President of Genome Canada.
Other highlights are expected to include:
A discussion on the "Jenkins R&D Review Panel Recommendations - Implications for Canadian Business".
Two plenary sessions focused on "Drivers of Innovation in the Chemical-Related Industry Sector", organized by Chemical Institute of Canada, and "Building Stronger Communities Through Innovation", organized by Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Two receptions including on the "Mingle of Science and Politics" and "Genome Canada."
The Hall of Fame Science and Engineering awards ceremony, which CSPC 2011 will co- host with the Science & Technology Museum and Engineers Canada.
It will be interesting to see if any of these events and reports has an influence upon this longstanding conservative party policy..
Robot Wars 3: The CanadArm Anniversary
The recent 30th anniversary of the iconic, Canadian built (and recently retired) Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (known nationally as the CanadArm) has provided an occasion to remember the glorious past of the Canadian robotics sector and consider the future, at least according to the November 13th Canadian Press article "Canadarm milestone comes at pivotal moment for robotics."
But before considering the future, Canadian robotics experts might want to take a look at some of the current, immediate competition.
The article quotes Canadian Space Society (CSS) President Kevin Shortt as stating that the original Canadarm was a great piece of equipment that Canadians can be proud of — but it's history. According to Shortt:
We can't continue to keep going back to that because countries like Germany and Japan are hot on the heels of building their own technology in that respect. I think they're knocking on our doorstep.
Here's a sample, from the German Aerospace Centre, of the types of machines that are knocking at our door.
There is also the Canadian made CanadArm 2 and the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) or DEXTRE. It's worthwhile to compare the operations of the CanadArm to the other examples listed above.
For those looking to learn a little more about Robonaut 2 and DEXTRE, it's worth checking out my April 17th, 2010 post "The Coming Robot Wars."
For those looking to learn a little more about CanadArm developer Macdonald Dettwiler (MDA) and its ongoing problems with follow-on Canadian technology based on the CanadArm, it's worth checking out my October 31st, 2010 post "Robot Wars II: MDA Attacks!"
Here's a quick overview of some of the things that were said:
Christian Paradis.
According to the November 3rd, 2011 Canadian Press article "Feds say review of Canada's aerospace policies will start, finish in 2012" an "industry person" will lead the sweeping federal review of the country's aerospace policies and the review will both begin and end in 2012. The article quotes AIAC vice-chairman David Schellenberg as stating that he "expects to know the identity of the project leader within weeks" and Industry Minister Christian Paradis as stating that the review will start early next year and is expected to be completed "by the end of the year." The article also quotes Canadian Space Agency (CSA) president Steve MacLean as stating that "there are advantages to having the space sector lumped in with the aerospace industry in the review." According to the article, the CSA head has been working on the space agency's own long-term space plan since 2008 and expects it will be incorporated into an overall aerospace strategy.
Michael Pley.
According to COM DEV International CEO Michael Pley, the federal government should loosen export rules on selling aerospace technology to China in order to allow Canadian firms to cash in on the Asian country’s growing space program. Pley was quoted in the November 3rd, 2011 Ottawa Business Journal article "Export controls hurting aerospace firms, industry reps say" which also quotes CSA president MacLean as stating that his agency is working on a treaty with China to make it easier for the two countries to work together. According to the article, part of the direction for export markets, including China, will come from a long-term space plan that the CSA was first tasked to put together in 2008, but has never released publicly.
Steve MacLean.
According to the November 4th, 2011 Spaceref.ca article "Opportunity and Risk Ahead for Canada's Space Industry" the federal government has a critical but supporting role to play, 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. The comments were made during a panel discussion on "Does Canada need an aerospace industrial base?" The panel members included MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) president of information systems Mag Iskander, Neptec president Iain Christie, Telesat president and CEO Daniel Goldberg plus COM DEV International CEO Michael Pley and was moderated by CSA president Steve MacLean.
It's worth noting that the CSA takes the upcoming review very, very seriously as noted from the comments above and from the timing of the 2010 State of the Canadian Space Sector Report, released to coincide with the aerospace summit.
Of course, the CSA does hope to incorporate many components of its previous studies into both this new review and as part of the assessment of the Jenkins Review (as documented in my October 17th, 2011 post titled "Federal R&D Recommendations Submitted" and the October 24th, 2011 follow-up post "Responding to the Jenkins Panel on R&D") which covers much the same territory.
... if Canada does not define a long term space plan, private business and academia will soon go about creating their own ... Dr. MacLean might need to respond to these rising calls for a long term space plan soon, or else risk becoming irrelevant to the debate.
It's a shame and it might not be their fault, but the window of opportunity seems to have closed on the CSA. The AIAC and others, mainly foreign governments and businesses, now seem to control our space destiny.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Canadian Aerospace History Website Now Promoting DC Prostitutes
But while the current owner continues to maintain the original content, the site now also contains links to a variety of escorts, infomercials and unrelated services.
The original site included links to events marking the 100th Anniversary of the first powered, heavier-than-air, controlled flight in Canada by J.A.D. McCurdy in the Silver Dart in 1909.
But now the site now also contains links to unrelated advertisers, various DC and Istanbul based escort services and a disclaimer from the new owners which states:
We bought this domain after expiration so it's not our fault that you lost it. We put old content for this domain only to avoid losing good quality of it from SEO point of view. If it's a problem for you contact us ASAP!
The new disclaimer also includes a contact e-mail for mstarowsky@gmail.com but e-mails sent to this address have so far elicited no response. A quick google search on the e-mail address provides a variety of broken links, sex focused websites and at least one other website (the Jessy's Pizza website) with an expired domain name and the same message.
The site still retains the phone number for the Transport Canada Communications Centre (the original domain owner and administrator of the site) in the for more information section, but the TCCC has so far declined to comment on the new content or ownership.
The domain is listed as being available for an annual $11.99 USD fee.
There are of course, many other websites and options for people looking to find out more about the 2009 Canadian Centennial of Flight or Canadian aviation history in general such as:
Here's a link to the November 3rd, 2011 Goldhawk Fights Back program, which features PDP chairman David Soknacki defending this recent actions and attempting to provide an underlying context for the PDP decision.
It's interesting listening (and Soknacki seems to be having a difficult time independently validating many of his assumptions) but doesn't once mention DC escorts.
Such a shame.
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Will US Allow Canada to Bid On-Orbit Satellite Servicing Contracts?
Of course, this isn't how things were supposed to shake out. As discussed in my March 15th, 2011 post "Macdonald Dettwiler gets "Anchor Customer" for Brampton Robotics Plant" the original plan was pitched as a partnership with satellite services provider Intelsat S.A for the on-orbit refueling and servicing of Intelsat satellites.
But times and politics change and while the Intelsat partnership remains in place, the focus has now shifted to obtaining additional revenue from US contracts. According to the article:
NASA and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are expected to release requests for bids for a satellite servicing test project in the coming weeks. But whether MDA, as a Canadian company, will be permitted to bid on the work remains unclear. MDA has increased the U.S. content — and thus the development cost — of the system in an attempt to get U.S. regulatory approval.
(MDA CEO Dan) Friedmann said MDA has all but put the project on hold while waiting to see how NASA and DARPA proceed.
"It is not prudent for us to proceed without getting clarity from the government and clarity on our participation in those programs,” Friedmann said. “We have an excellent customer, Intelsat. They do not have infinite patience, but they are patient."
Canadian support for the project remains minimal with no official, public endorsements from either the Canadian government or the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Now might be the time for them to step up to the plate to support this logical progression of iconic Canadarm technology.
The museum is housed in what was once the original factory for de Havilland Aircraft of Canada and the original home of Spar Aerospace (which started out as the special products applied research division of De Havilland and built the Allouette 1 satellite). The hangar is the oldest surviving aircraft factory building in Canada.
While Dailey did not explicitly call for the Canadian federal government (which directly controls all federal crown corporations) to cancel its plans, he did call for decision-makers to consider the building's historical value.
Until Oct. 26, the building was listed as “a recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations and its architectural and environmental value” on the Canada Historic Places website.
This has been called an error by Parks Canada, the federal agency that oversees heritage sites. The entry in the official register of the agency’s Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office is gone.
David Soknacki, the chair of Parc Downsview Park, the Crown corporation in charge of the redevelopment, has said the building is not currently a heritage building.
However, the City of Toronto still lists the building on its inventory of heritage properties.
There is also the question of where the exhibits currently housed in the museum will be relocated should the building close. Displays include dozens of reproductions, full sized models and working aircraft from the last hundred years. The estimated cost of moving these items approaches one half million CDN dollars according to CASM estimates.
PDP has offered storage space at 40 Carl Hall Road, just down the street from the present museum but access to the offered storage is through a loading dock with doors which are too small to fit many of the displays and working aircraft.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Weather Sats, CSA Contracts, Isle of Mann, New Magellan Facility & John MacDonald
Here's a short list of five items currently being tracked in the Commercial Space blog.
The NPOESS NPP satellite.
The Quebec City office of international Swiss/ Swedish based ABB Group is justifiably proud of their contribution to the NASA National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), which rocketed into orbit on October 28th, 2011 aboard a Delta 2 launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The ABB contribution is an interferometer component of the larger Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), a fourier transform spectrometer, which will collect data on more than 30 different climate variables including surface temperatures, global ice cover, atmospheric ozone levels and vegetative productivity. The system was originally intended to serve as a test bed for technologies expected to be used aboard future weather satellites such as the NOAA/ NASA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and the US Defense Department's Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS). However, the October 28th, 2011 Popular Mechanics article "NASA Launches NPP Polar Orbiter - But are Future Studies in in Doubt" suggests that, with NASA’s current polar orbiters near the end of their operational lifetimes, the experimental NPP satellite could soon end up in an operational role "providing data critical to both short-term weather forecasting and long-term climate science."
Speaking of contracts, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has just awarded six small contracts to four organizations for concept studies in areas "related to future space exploration ventures" according to the October 27th, 2011 CSA press release "Canadian Space Agency Invests in Exploration Ideas." The $250,000 CDN contracts were snagged by Macdonald Dettwiler (one, called the "Clear Sky Project," focused on orbital debris clearance and a second for on-orbit automated servicing to demonstrate "critical technologies and techniques required to capture a satellite"), Com Dev International (one contract to demonstrate the techniques for orbital debris elimination and a second for a Canadian-led space telescope smaller than the Hubble Space Telescope, but with wider panoramic views and comparable sharpness), ABB Canada (for a compact fourier transform spectrometer, which seems to be an ABB area of expertise) and the University of Alberta (for a radiation detection system pitched as suitable for use aboard the International Space Station and future Moon and Mars missions). There is very little new here (for example, the MDA contracts seem direct progressions of skill-sets developed using the CanadArm II to dock unmanned modules aboard the ISS, which are in practical use now and certainly developed far beyond the need for a "concept study") but it's nice to see that the CSA doesn't want to be completely left behind as Canadian space system companies begin to roll-out new projects.
Speaking of new products, the October 26th, 2011 University of Mississippi School of Law hosted Res Communis blog article "First Isle of Man Satellite Launched" reports that the first satellite to use an Isle of Man licensed orbital filing was the ViaSat-1, launched October 19th, 2011 and considered the the world’s highest capacity broadband satellite. Partners in the project include US basedSpace Systems Loral, Canadian based telecom giant Telsat, and French based satellite provider Eutelsat. “ViaSat-1 is a next generation, high throughput satellite that will provide fast and affordable broadband service to all Canadians,” according to Telesat President and CEO Dan Goldberg.
Magellan Aerospace executives couldn't wait for the actual completion of its new Advanced Composite Manufacturing Centre in Winnipeg according to the October 25th, 2011 Ottawa Citizen article "Magellan Aerospace Holds Ceremony For Its Not Yet Completed Advanced Composite Manufacturing Centre." According to the article, the 138,000 square foot Winnipeg facility "is in the final stages of being equipped with advanced technology for the manufacture of complex composite fabrication and assemblies. When fully commissioned it will be one of the most advanced composite manufacturing and assembly centres in North America." The new facility is expected to produce F-35 Lightning II horizontal tail components.
Dr. John MacDonald.
John MacDonald might currently be the chairman and CEO of Day 4 Energy, a global provider of solar photovoltaic products and might also have just been awarded the Leadership Award in recognition of the contributions he has made to B.C. exports throughout his career as reported in the October 28th, 2011 Vancouver Sun article "BC Export Award winners announced." But a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, MacDonald also co-founded MDA, Canada’s second largest space technology company after Telsat, so it's nice to see that he's still going strong.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Responding to the Jenkins Panel on R&D
It's been just over a week since the October 17th, 2011 press release on the Review of Federal Support to Research and Development website announced the completion of the Jenkins' panel comprehensive review of federal R&D programs.
Here's a quick sampling of some of the comments the panel report has so far provoked:
The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) promised only to review the recommendations according to it's October 17th, 2011 press release "AIAC acknowledges work of the Jenkins Panel on R&D." Specific areas of concern were listed as being the suggested changes to the SR&ED federal tax credit system and the revised role being proposed for the National Research Council (NRC). According to the AIAC press release "the timing of the report is beneficial as AIAC is preparing for the review of aerospace policies and programs announced in the 2011 budget." As outlined in my May 30th, 2011 post "Political 'Reviews' Moving to the Forefront" the Jenkins review is not the only report related to Canadian R&D which is expected to be released over the next 12-18 months.
The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) has also come out inn favor of the Jenkins panel review according to the October 17th, 2011 press release "AUCC applauds expert panel’s vision for innovation." According to the AUCC president Paul Davidson, the "panel’s analysis reaffirms the leading role that Canada’s universities play in providing the talent, discovery and ideas that serve as the cornerstone of our economy and society.”
The mass media also seems to have strong opinions about what the Jenkins panel review means. According to the October 17th, 2011 Financial Post (FP) article "Canada’s R&D funding system ‘unnecessarily complicated,’ panel finds" the real conclusion is that "Canadian entrepreneurs looking to get federal R&D support had better be comfortable pushing through piles of paperwork." A day later, in the October 18th, 2011 PT editorial comment "Dim-bulb R&D policy" the paper laments that "Jenkins’ mandate never included scrapping the whole bad idea" of SH&RD tax credits.
According to the October 17th, 2011 post on the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce website under the title “Shaping the Future of Canadian Innovation: The Jenkins Panel Report Deloitte" the accounting firm Deloitte Canada comments the panel "on its consultative approach in developing its recommendations" and applauds "the suggestions to increase the availability of funds to start-up and later stage companies, and increase the government’s procurement." However, the company also found that while "simplifying the SR&ED program is a great objective" it may "create a bias in the program towards labour-intensive sectors at the expense of non-labour intensive industries" and did not "explicitly deal with approaches to making Canada more attractive to foreign investment."
Abu Dhabi based investment company Aabar Investments has boosted its stake in space tourism company Virgin Galactic by an additional $110 million USD to bring it's total equity in the company to 37.8% from 31.8%.
The original July 2009 investment included an Aabar commitment of $100 million USD to fund a "small satellite launch capability" plus money for construction of a spaceport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Other publicly announced Virgin Galactic launch sites include:
