New Radarsat R&D Funding is Mostly for Software Analytics But Includes Some Interesting Surprises

          By Chuck Black

The issuing of multiple contracts totaling $6.7Mln CDN through the Department of National Defence (DND) to eight Canadian and international companies to develop "situational awareness" applications focused around the analysis and assessment of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data-sets generated from Canada's Radarsat program, is typical of the ramp up of any new military program.

But the new contracts issued last week could potentially end up being just another example of Canadian ingenuity arriving late to an international party already bursting with experienced data analytics experts and ingenious applications.

As outlined in the December 14th, 2018 Government of Canada backgrounder "Government of Canada announces contract awards aimed at improving space-based earth observation capabilities," the new awards included:

Quebec PQ based ABB Canada, which received $305,000, or one half of the $610,000 required to investigate a "Complementary Electro-Optic/Infrared (EO/IR) payload to RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) follow-on." 

The study will "help define mission objectives, requirements, and concepts for a secondary electro-optic/infrared payload for the RCM follow-on mission." 

Until now Radarsat's have focused on supporting only one payload, the SAR.

Ottawa ON based AstroCom Associates, which received $165,000 CDN, or one half of the $330,000 CDN required to fund "Project Arviq." 

Project Arvig will investigate "the feasibility of a proposed capability to detect ocean waves in sea ice. Arviq builds upon recent results that show centimetre-scale ice waves can be imaged directly using synthetic aperture radar interferometry technology."

 St. John’s based C-Core, which received funding for two proposals.

• $775,000 CDN, or one half of the $1,550,000 CDN needed to fund a study on "Multi-satellite data integration for operational ship detection, identification and tracking." This study will investigate and develop a "multi-satellite data classifying approach to enhance the capacity to discriminate ships from icebergs. Efficiently and rapidly classifying detected objects of interest in or over water is a key area of interest to the maritime domain situational awareness community." 

• $940,000 CDN, or one half of the $1,880,000 CDN needed to fund a study on "Modelling the geo-spatial intelligence capability to support Canadian surveillance and sovereignty." The study will "evaluate the spatio-temporal aspects of acquiring, down-linking and analyzing imagery for the generation of geographical intelligence products in support of land and maritime monitoring. It will investigate and develop a multi-satellite data classifier to better characterize ship and non-ship targets."

Calgary AB based Complex System Inc., which received $200,000 CDN, or one half the total $400,000 CDN needed to fund a study on "Electro-Optic/Infrared data analytics for enhanced maritime surveillance."

The study will "develop an on-board video processing system which will be used together with space-based radar and ship detection sensors to enhance near-real time vessel detection, tracking and identification. Complex Systems Inc. will develop a new data analytics system by leveraging leading edge computer vision and machine learning technologies and deliver a suite of advanced processing tools enabling enhancing maritime surveillance capabilities."

Gatineau PQ based CubeWerx, which received $485,000 CDN, or one half the total $970,000 CDN needed to fund a study on a proposed "RADARSAT thematic exploitation platform demonstrator." 

The project "will study big data and cloud computing approaches to support scalability, agility, and on-demand availability of earth observation data products" plus "develop a RADARSAT thematic exploitation platform and demonstrate a working environment where users can package their applications and upload them to a Cloud environment that supports the processing of users algorithms at scale, avoiding the need to download and store large volumes of images locally."

Ottawa ON based General Dynamics Mission Systems, which received $75,000 CDN, or one half the total $150,000 CDN needed to fund a study on "Real-time processing of large-volume space-based multi-modal data."

The project "will develop new approaches using emerging graphics processing unit architectures and the latest algorithms to process large volumes of satellite remote sensing data from multiple sources and types such as multiband radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors."

Brampton ON based MDA, which received funding for three proposals.

• $1Mln CDN, or one half of the $2Mln CDN needed to fund a study on "Augmenting Canada’s maritime surveillance capability with complementary electro-optic/infrared information products." The project "will demonstrate how incorporating various types of space remote sensing satellite data elements can augment maritime surveillance capabilities with additional detections and improve classification, identification, and tracking." The contract was awarded through the Richmond BC based MDA Systems division.

• $500,000 CDN, or one half of the $1Mln CDN to fund a study on the "Application of Big Data analytics techniques to extracting GEOINT from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery." The project will "investigate Big Data analytics and automatization techniques to better exploit the large and growing data archives" collected and expected to be collected during the RADARSAT-2 and RCM programs. The contract was awarded through the Richmond BC based MDA Geospatial Services division.

• $750,000 CDN, or one half of the $1.5Mln CDN needed to fund a study on "Persistent multi-sensor land surveillance and change monitoring." The project "will explore how wide-area automated change monitoring techniques can be enhanced by using a combination of earth observing data types such as RADARSAT and electro-optical data." The contract was awarded through the Richmond BC based MDA Systems division.

Vancouver BC based UrtheCast, which received funding for two proposals. 

• $1Mln CDN, or one half the total $2Mln CDN needed to fund a study on "Architecture innovations for analytics-ready data." The project "will demonstrate scalable warehousing and on-demand processing of analytics-ready space remote sensing data from multiple types of earth observation systems, to enable emerging techniques including artificial intelligence to be used for the production of geographical information products." 

• $499,000 CDN, or approximately one half the total $999,000 CDN needed to fund a study on "Complementary sensor exploitation." The project "will develop, implement and demonstrate a new system to deliver thematic maps derived from complementary satellite earth observation data sources in support of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) land operations."

Only one of the listed awards, for ABB to investigate a secondary EO/IR payload, covered research on potential future hardware.

The other awards covered software and data modelling applications related to geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), the "study of human activity on earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information," according to Wikipedia.

The contracts were structured as public private partnerships with costs split 50-50 between DND and the various private companies. They were provided under the second of two DND Defence Innovation Research Program (DIRP) calls for proposals under its tasking-collection-processing & exploitation-dissemination (TCPED) initiative.

However, as outlined in the May 22nd, 2018 Space News post "Not convinced of the promise of commercial radar satellites? Meet the radar mafia," there is already a growing international geospatial data analytics community creating military and civilian applications for the SAR data-sets being generated now by many other space-based radar satellites.

So the latest DND awards are certainly not enough by themselves to insure Canadian leadership in this area.

The Space News post focused on the 2018 GEOINT Symposium, which was organized by Ithaca NY based Ursa Space Systems and held from April 22nd - 25th in Tampa FL.

Chuck Black.

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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.

With Stock Prices Rising, A New Board, New CEO and Secured Funding, UrtheCast Might Be Moving Forward

          By Chuck Black

Vancouver BC based UrtheCast is moving quickly to make up for lost time and (hopefully) remind the country that the private sector can also fund and execute complex space focused projects.

According to the January 3rd, 2018 Cantech Letter post, "Urthecast has 264% upside, Clarus Securities says," the stock market was betting big on UrtheCast. But in March 2018, its stock fell through the floor, loosing almost half its value on March 8th (from $0.98 CDN to $0.55CDN) and slowly dropping under $0.30 CDN per share over the next several months. As outlined in the June 26th, 2018 post, "UrtheCast Shareholders Endorse the New Board," the new board and CEO, ex-MDA president Don Osborne, are hoping to generate a turn around, or at least some signs of life, before the next financial reporting period, sometime this fall. Graphic c/o UrtheCast.

As outlined in the September 20th, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Announces the Signing of New US$25M Contract for UrtheDaily Constellation," UrtheCast:

...has signed a binding contract for $25Mln US ($32.5Mln CDN) to provide data from the Company's planned UrtheDaily™ Constellation to a long-established commercial Earth observation operator and value-added services provider on the Indian subcontinent. The contract will provide UrtheCast US$5Mln ($6.5Mln CDN) annually over the first five years of UrtheDaily™ operations...

This latest contract, when added to revenue acquired from the acquisition of the North Vancouver BC based Geosys Technology in August 2018, is expected to bring UrtheCast's total contracted revenue backlog to over $300Mln CDN, according to the press release.

And, while $300Mln doesn't compare to the billions of dollars of backlog commonly reported by large telecom companies like Ottawa ON based Telesat or Westminster CO based Maxar Technologies, its a good start.

As outlined in the August 2nd, 2018 Ottawa Business Journal post, "Ottawa-based Telesat adds new contracts amid disappointing Q2," Telesat reported a $3.8Bln CDN backlog for its most recent quarter. As outlined in the July 31st, 2018 Maxar press release, "Maxar Technologies reports second quarter 2018 results, declares quarterly dividend," Maxar reported a backlog of $3.05Bln US ($3.95Mln CDN) as of June 30th, 2018.

Revenue backlog is the value of contracted revenue that has yet to be recognized. Its a useful measurement of the future strength of a company.

The three revenue generation windows for Urthecast as per the January 9th, 2018 Seeking Alpha post, "UrtheCast: 3 Steps Forward, 2 Steps Back," which stated that "UrtheCast has steadily improved its business stability throughout its corporate history," and praised the 2015 UrtheCast purchase of Boecillo Spain based Deimos Imaging. As outlined on the UrtheCast website, the UrtheDaily Constellation is a planned "global coverage constellation aiming to acquire high-quality, multispectral imagery, at 5-m GSD, taken at the same time, from the same altitude every day." As outlined on Gunter's Space page listing for Urthedaily, the constellation, "planned for launch in 2020, will be capable of scientific-grade quality, multispectral imagery, high-resolution, targeted specifically at geoanalytics applications. The satellites have a 5 m ground resolution with a 360 km swath width." Graphic c/o Seeking Alpha.

In anticipation of the new order, UrtheCast stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) rose substantially last week.

As outlined in the September 22nd, 2018 Press Oracle post, "UrtheCast (UR) Shares Up 43.8%," UrtheCast stock prices:

...shot up 43.8% during trading on Thursday (September 20th). The company traded as high as 0.23 CDN and last traded at $0.23 CDN. 

523,490 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average session volume of 436,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.16 CDN...

The stock price eventually settled down at $0.20 CDN per share, up from $0.16 CDN, where it currently seems to be hovering.

As outlined in the June 26th, 2018  post, "UrtheCast Shareholders Endorse the New Board," the company has recently approved a new board and a new CEO. The appointments were considered by the broader investment community to be "a vote of confidence" on UrtheCast's future prospects, according to sources.

The next formal quarterly investor report is expected in November.

Chuck Black.

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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.

UrtheCast Shareholders Endorse the New Board

         By Chuck Black

Vancouver BC based UrtheCast has reported that all resolutions put forward at its June 25th, 2018 annual general and special meeting (AGM) were passed with strong, but not universal, support from UrtheCast shareholders.

Graphic c/o UrtheCast.

As outlined in the June 25th, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Corp. Announces Results of Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders," those resolutions included:

• The election of four new and two returning directors.

• An amendment to increase the number of permitted directors who are not Canadian residents to 75% in accordance with the residency requirements of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). 

• The appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) as corporate auditor.

Based on proxies received in advance and voted at the meeting, 44,081,427 common shares of UrtheCast, representing 36.3% of the issued and outstanding common shares were voted. This is an increase from 22% of issued and outstanding common shares voted at last year’s annual meeting.

The new board members include:

• Mark Piegza, a US based investment banker, who also co-founded and acts as CFO and director of Dulles VA based US Space LLC (with 86.23% of the voted shares in favor of his election).

• Adam Vore, another US based investment banker, currently acting as the managing director of Seaport Global Securities (86.26% in favor).

• Andreas Georghiou, a well respected US based satellite industry executive (83.43% in favor).

• John (Jack) Shannon, a New York attorney who for the past 14 years was a managing director and head of compliance for investment banking and capital markets at NY NY based Bank of America Merrill Lynch (83.42% in favor).

As outlined in the June 1st, 2018 post, "UrtheCast Receives a Vote of Confidence from American Investors," the new additions are believed to have been critical for putting together the funding of the UrtheDaily™ constellation.

Their appointment to the board is considered by the broader investment community to be "a vote of confidence" on UrtheCast's future prospects, according to sources.

The new directors will join former Canadian Space Agency (CSA) president William "Mac" Evans, who's been a director since June, 2013 (75.38% in favor) and James Topham, an accountant with Vancouver BC based KPMG, who's been a director since May, 2015 and also chairs the UrtheCast audit committee (75.39% in favor).

As outlined in the June 22nd, 2018 post, "New UrtheCast CEO Don Osborne Belongs to a "Secret Society," UrtheCast appointed a new CEO last week.

Chuck Black.

__________________________________________________________

Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.

New UrtheCast CEO Don Osborne Belongs to a "Secret Society"

          By Henry Stewart

Going into what is expected to be a "lively" annual general meeting currently scheduled for Monday June 25th, Vancouver, BC based UrthCast has announced that Ex-MDA president Donald F. Osborne has been appointed as its new CEO.

He probably doesn't belong to the illuminati, although the one eyed portrait is certainly evocative. But new CEO Osborne is one of dozens of ex-Macdonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) employees who have left to join UrtheCast over the last several years. Photo c/o Rob Kruyt/ Business in Vancouver.

Osborne, who until November 2017 headed up the MDA information systems group subsidiary of Colorado based Maxar Technologies, isn't the only ex-MDA employee hired by UrtheCast over the last few years. A quick search through LinkedIn, the employment and business-oriented website, where many UrthCast employees store their online resumes, will uncover dozens of others.

They include EVP of operations Peter Duggan (an ex-MDA program director), CTO George Tyc (until 2012, the ex-technical director of small-sats at MDA), principal engineer Joe Steyn (who held the same title at MDA until 2016), director of software engineering Chris Rampersad (who worked at MDA until 2013) and many, many more.

Even UrtheCast co-founder Wade Larson worked at MDA as VP of business development until 2012.

As outlined in the  October 12th, 2017 post, "Osborne Steps Down at Canadian MDA as it Responds to Questions About its US Based "Maxar" Future," Osborne's resignation came as a bit of a surprise to his MDA colleagues.

No doubt, and as outlined in the June 1st, 2018 post, "UrtheCast Receives a Vote of Confidence from American Investors," Osborne's first days at his new job will include a few new surprises.

Osborne's appointment was made public earlier in the week, as per the June 19th 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Corp. Appoints Donald F. Osborne as Chief Executive Officer."

_______________________________________________________________________

Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer. 

Do the Bells Toll for UrtheCast? Q4 2017 Fiscal Report Shows Another Net Loss and Concern over Long-term Survival

          By Brian Orlotti

Vancouver, BC-based satellite imaging firm UrtheCast has finally released its Q4 2017 financials, reporting substantially lower earnings offset only partially by lower operating costs, along with an overall net loss of $31.8Mln CDN or $0.14 CDN per share.

The company has also announced a "brokered private placement," a capital raising event that typically involves the sale of securities to a relatively small number of select investors, usually large banks, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds. The company has been attempting to court "select institutional investors" for some time and still needs to raise at least $25Mln US ($32Mln CDN).

Details of the brokered private placement were released separately as part of the April 3rd, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Announces CAD$35 Million Brokered Private Placement of Subscription Receipts as Subordinated Capital for the US$142 Million Senior Secured Facility."

However, even with the private placement, UrtheCast "continues to face significant liquidity challenges with recurring operating losses and negative cash flows" and may not survive as a going concern.

According to the April 3rd, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2017 Financial Results and Announces Brokered Private Placement," Q4 2017 revenue totaled:

$40.4Mln CDN in 2017 compared to $111.3Mln in 2016, or $49.9Mln when excluding the non-cash revenue of $61.4Mln in 2016 related to the Company's cameras on the International Space Station. 

Engineering services revenue totaled $32.6Mln in 2017, compared to $34.7Mln in 2016 decreased due to a change in the expected completion date of one of our engineering services contracts, which resulted in revenue being recognized over a longer period, and also due to lower revenue being recognized on one of our contracts for the provision of space hardware, as a higher percentage of the work was completed in the prior year.  

Earth Observation ("EO") imagery revenue of $7.8Mln in 2017, compared to $15.2Mln in 2016, was significantly lower due to ongoing delay in securing a major contract award. 

The net loss of $31.8Mln and negative adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $3.2Mln in 2017 increased when compared to the net loss of $29.3Mln and positive adjusted EBITDA of $5.6Mln in 2016, primarily as a result of the lower revenues, which were only partially offset by the lower operating costs...

As of March 31st, 2018, UrtheCast possessed less than $7.5Mln cash on hand and $16.6Mln in restricted cash, held for a specific purpose and therefore not available for immediate or general business use.

According to the press release, the "current cash flow from operations may not be sufficient to cover its commitments, obligations and operating costs." 

As outlined in the December 10th, 2015 Business in Vancouver post, "UrtheCast CEO Scott Larson resigns, replaced by brother and co-founder," signs of trouble first appeared in 2015 when UrtheCast CEO and co-founder Scott Larson was forced out of his position and replaced with his brother (and UrtheCast co-founder) Wade.

Prior to UrtheCast, Wade Larson spent over seven years at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) before leaving the public sector to work at Burnaby BC based MacDonald Dettwiler (now MDA, a subsidiary of San Francisco, CA-based Maxar Technologies). 

Scott Larson went on to found Helios Wire, a Vancouver-based startup seeking to build a space-based Internet of Things (IoT) network of 30 low-cost satellites.

As outlined in the November 14th, 2017 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Reports Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results and Expects UrtheDaily™ Constellation Financing Closing by Year End," Urthecast’s Q3 2017 earnings revealed revenues in its Earth observation business had been impacted by delays in the award of "a major contract."

Third-quarter revenue amounted to $10.2Mln CDN, while the company recorded a net loss of $6.4Mln CDN. 

Since then, the company said that it had continued negotiations with a “selected institutional investor” to secure financing for its flagship project, the OptiSAR constellation. 

OptiSAR is intended to be the world’s first fully-integrated, multi-spectral optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation constellation, but required some $195Mln USD ($252Mln CDN) worth of additional funding in order to move forward.

Last month, as outlined in the March 9th, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Announces Senior Management Changes and Provides Corporate and Financing Update," UrtheCast announced that Wade Larson had left his position as CEO and director, but was staying on as a special adviser to the board.

Larson was replaced by board director Greg Nordal, who was serving as an interim CEO until a permanent leader could be found. On the same day, the company also stated that it was working on a financing package for OptiSAR.

As outlined in the April 2nd, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast to Report Fourth Quarter 2017 Results on April 2, 2018 but Cancels Live Conference Call," UrtheCast was originally scheduled to hold an investor conference call at 4:30PM ET on April 2nd, 2018 to release its Q4 results and provide some context for its business actions.

Could the bell be tolling for Urthecast? We'll update this post as new information becomes available.

Editors Note: As outlined in the April 10th, 2018 UrtheCast press release, `UrtheCast Announces Commitments for CAD$35 Million Brokered Private Placement of Subscription Receipts to Enable the UrtheDaily™ Financing Package, ` UrtheCast has been advised by their agents, Clarus Securities and Canaccord Genuity that `investors have committed to purchase $35Mln CDN of subscription receipts` in connection with its previously announced brokered private placement.

That deal closed in May 2018, as outlined in the May 3rd, 2018 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Closes $34 Million Private Placement of Subscription Receipts."

Expect further announcements over the next few weeks.

Brian Orlotti.

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Brian Orlotti is a regular contributor to the Commercial Space blog.

Lacavera Elevating Canada and Canadian Technology

          By Brian Orlotti

The 1st Elevate Toronto Festival, a three day tech start-up extravaganza taking place in Toronto, ON from September 12th - 14th,  has just published its speaker list. Among these is a figure well-connected with Canada’s NewSpace industry; Anthony ‘Tony,’  Lacavera, and two up-and-coming space firms.

Tony Lacavera at the at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, ON in January 2016. As outlined in the January 18th, 2016 BetaKit post, "Tony Lacavera Commits to Series A & B Investments Following "Meaningful" Wind Exit," the Toronto based entrepreneur was on-hand to kick off 2016’s MaRS Mornings speaker series. According to Lacavera, his goal "is to keep more companies in Canada." Photo c/o BetaKit.

Lacavera, founder of Globalive Holdings (a telecom provider and investment firm) and wireless carrier Wind Mobile (now Freedom Mobile), is a former Chairman of the Board for Vancouver-based satellite imagery firm UrtheCast as well as a key investor in Toronto-based nano-satellite startup Kepler Communications.

In January 2016,  Lacavera, via Globalive, established a $100Mln CDN venture capital fund as a follow-on to a series of investments he made in various Toronto tech firms over the previous year.

The fund was intended to plug what Lacavera considered a strategic hole in the Canadian startup landscape. Canada has ample support for entrepreneurs just starting out, and once they achieve success, US venture firms or investors like Toronto-based OMERS Ventures are there to provide tens of millions of dollars.

Between those stages lay a funding gap, which Lacavera’s fund is designed to fill by providing mid-level funding rounds of between $5-25 Mln CDN.

In an January 13th, 2016 Computer Dealer News post, "Globalive CEO Tony Lacavera on how Canada can become a leader in AI," Lacavera said that he felt that Canada has the potential to become a world leader in fields such as artificial intelligence, fintech, machine-learning, autonomous vehicles, and quantum computing, though its institutions must step up their efforts to fulfill it.

He also stressed that Canada’s efforts must go beyond mere presentations and broad allocations of resources; Canada must narrow its actions and focus on areas where it can win. Towards that end, in 2017, Lacavera, now co-chair of startup-funding charity NEXT Canada, revealed a new initiative, NextAI.

NextAI, an artificial intelligence startup funding program, has received  $5.15Mln CDN in initial backing from a series of high-profile donors including the Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and Magna International.

Lacavera has framed the new venture as the Canadian private sector’s contribution to such AI-supportive government organizations as the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which he said had provided Canada with a “small but fleeting competitive advantage” in the field.

As quoted in the January 26th, 2017 IT World Canada post, "Tony Lacavera, RBC, Magna among backers behind new AI funding program," Lacavera said that initiatives like NextAI are needed to stop the US brain drain of Canadian tech talent:

Despite excelling on the research front, in recent years the AI brain drain has become more and more profound, as so much of our top talent leaves for Silicon Valley and beyond. 

At NextAI, our aim is to stop and reverse this brain drain and actually attract the best and the brightest from around the globe to Canada – and the only way we’re going to ensure Canada continues to make its way in artificial intelligence is if we make it the best environment possible for both creation and innovation.

Lacavera’s moves and the Elevate Toronto Festival may have come at just the right moment for Canada. As relations with the United States become increasingly acrimonious, as made evident by President Trump’s recent threats to unilaterally cancel NAFTA, Canada must strive to reduce its economic dependence on the US and finally adopt a more global mindset

Brian Orlotti.

  ______________________________________________________________

Brian Orlotti is a regular contributor to the Commercial Space blog.

UrthCast "Customer Funds" $100Mln CDN OptiSAR Constellation Precursor Satellite

          By Brian Orlotti

Vancouver, BC-based UrtheCast Corp. has announced the signing of a contract “in excess of one hundred million Canadian dollars” with an undisclosed customer to build a single synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite which will act as a precursor to its currently planned sixteen satellite constellation of eight optical and eight dual-band X- and L-band Earth observation satellites.

From top left, a sample X-band SAR image with a sample L-band SAR image on the top right. From bottom left, a sample multi-spectral optical image with a sample fused image, combining the highlights of the first three images on the bottom right, and suggesting new patterns. While the Urthecast OptiSar Constellation is expected to serve as a platform for advancing the development of a host of new applications and services, its not the only player in this niche. Major competitors include Richmond BC based MacDonald Dettwiler (currently building the RADARSAT Constellation series of three SAR satellites for the Canadian government) along it's subsidiary, Colorado based DigitalGlobe (a commercial Earth imaging provider which owns the four satellite Worldview Constellation and has strong ties to the US military), plus Paris, France based Astrium (a division of Airbus Group) and San Francisco based Planet (which controls over a hundred small orbiting Earth imaging cubesat's now and plans to launch more). Images c/o UrtheCast.

But the new contract will also delay the roll-out of its integrated, multi-spectral optical and radar (OptiSAR) constellation by "at least a year," to around 2023. As outlined on the undated European Space Agency (ESA) EO Portal Directory webpage under the title, "the OptiSAR (Optical and SAR) Commercial Constellation of UrtheCast," the constellation was initially expected to be deployed over multiple launches in 2019 and 2020.

UrtheCast President and CEO Wade Larson stated during the August 14th, 2017 Urthecast Q2 2017 investor conference call that the company purchasing the SAR satellite was one of three that had already signed a memorandum of understanding to be clients of the OptiSAR constellation once it becomes operational.

The August 14th, 2017 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Enters Into Binding Agreement Worth US$180 Million to Sell and Operate Two Satellites in the OptiSAR™ Constellation, quoted Larson as stating:

Building and delivering this accelerator SAR satellite will validate our technology, substantially reduce our financial, programmatic and operational risks, and get us into the business of selling SAR-XL data sooner than we were anticipating. 

Subject to final approvals, we’ll soon be customer-funded to build our first operational-class SAR mission.

This precursor mission will enable Urthecast to both demonstrate its OptiSAR technology to prospective clients as well as enable an additional revenue stream for the company prior to the constellation’s launch in 2023.

The company also plans to launch an eight-satellite constellation in 2020, called UrtheDaily, designed to capture daily, medium-quality optical imagery of the Earth's entire landmass (excluding Antarctica).

This is the third substantial announcement UrtheCast has made regarding the OptiSar constellation over the last year.

As outlined in the January 17th, 2017 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Enters into Binding Agreement Worth US$180 Million to Sell and Operate Two Satellites in the OptiSAR™ Constellation," another client, also unnamed, agreed to pay $180Mln USD ($227Mln CDN) for the sale and shared operation of the first two satellites in the constellation earlier this year.

And, as reported in the March 15th, 2017 Via Satellite post, "UrtheCast Raises CA$17.6 Million to Support OptiSAR Constellation," the company has also received funding from the Canadian Innovation, Science and Economic Development's (ISED) Industrial Technologies Office as part of its Strategic Aerospace & Defense Initiative (SADI) program.

UrtheCast currently operates various Earth observation systems, including two satellites, Deimos-1 and Deimos-2, to produce imagery that is displayed on UrtheCast's cloud-based web platform and sold to various partners and customers.

Through its subsidiary Deimos Imaging, UrtheCast processes and distributes imagery and value-added products on behalf of the PanGeo Alliance, a global network of eight satellite operators with a combined fleet of 15 Earth Observation systems.

OptiSAR is intended to be the world’s first multispectral combined optical/SAR constellation of Earth Observation satellites. The constellation will consist of 16 spacecraft; 8 pairs of SAR and optical satellites working in tandem. Closely pairing both types of satellite will enable near-simultaneous acquisition of both radar and optical imagery. Each satellite pair will be capable of providing very high quality imagery at 1m resolution in X-band and 5m resolution in L-band as well as colour video at 30 fps.

The OptiSAR system will combine the best of both worlds; optical imagery taken during best weather conditions augmented by SAR’s greater detail, day-or-night flexibility and cloud-penetrating abilities. This fusion will result in far richer data-sets (the SAR data acting as metadata for the optical) that will enable more powerful analysis in fields as diverse as agricultural monitoring, disaster relief and urban planning.  

The contract covers delivery of the spacecraft (to be built by UK based Surrey Satellite Technology), key elements of the ground segment and post-launch maintenance and operational support. Urthecast and its client will enter into a separate contract to provide UrtheCast with the exclusive distribution rights to the client’s unused imaging capacity on a shared 50/50 net revenue basis outside the client’s own region.

Subject to government approvals, work on the satellite is anticipated to begin in early 2018 with a launch in late 2020.

Brian Orlotti.

  ______________________________________________________________

Brian Orlotti is a regular contributor to the Commercial Space blog.

UrtheCast, 3D Printing for Space, AlbertaSat & More on Reusable Rockets

          By Henry Stewart

The week of March 27th, 2017 has certainly a busy week for news in the space industry. Given that, here are some of the stories we're currently tracking for the Commercial Space blog:

A view of East Vancouver, including the Port of Vancouver, as seen from space. Photo c/o Urthecast.

• Vancouver, BC based Urthecast has scheduled its 2017 year end conference call for 4pm ET on the afternoon of March 28th, 2017. Hopefully, the company will provide some clarification on where it intends to spend the substantial amounts of money its been raising over the last little while. 

As outlined in the March 22nd, 2017 CNW press release, "UrtheCast Closes C$19.6 Million Offering of Common Shares," the company has just closed its previously-announced bought deal public offering of 13,033,341 common shares. These shares were issued at a price of $1.50 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $19,550,012Mln CDN.

Those funds are in addition to the $17.6Mln CDN windfall the Federal government provided earlier in March. 

As outlined in the March 14th, 2017 CBC News post, "Vancouver's UrtheCast gets $17.6M from feds for Earth observation technology," the Federal funding, provided under the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI), will be used to develop "patented, cutting-edge technology" to be used in equip "a group of satellites for Earth observation and to make the high-resolution images easier for its customers to use."

The 3D printed spacecraft antenna interface bracket. Photo c/o 3DPrint.com.

• A 3D printed bracket built by metal printing company FusiA Impression 3D Metal Inc. and Burnaby, BC based space company MacDonald, Dettwiler (MDA), might soon be going to space.

As outlined in the March 24th, 2017 3DPrint.com post, "Thanks to a Group Effort, 3D Printed Satellite Bracket Will Soon Go to Space," the bracket, funded by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) under its Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) along with contributions from the Canada Makes’ Metal Additive Manufacturing Demonstration Program, still needs to be tested structurally in order to qualify to fly.

While Canada is a latecomer to the benefits of 3D printing, the technology has become very popular among international aerospace companies because of the cost savings, durability and quick turn around time. 

As outlined in the post, "satellite manufacturer Space Systems Loral (an MDA subsidiary) kept costs and part mass down by using additive manufacturing to design the JCSAT-110A antenna tower, Poland’s first commercial satellite was created with a 3D printed housing and Boeing recently started to implement additive manufacturing into satellite production."

Even NASA has taken note. As outlined in the December 2nd, 2015 www.3ders.org post, "Aerojet Rocketdyne completes first 3D printed parts for Orion spacecraft," 3D printing technology is being used in a number of important NASA spacecraft.

The ex-Alta 1. Graphic c/o AlbertaSat.

• There's no official word on when its going to launch, but when it does (and that could happen as early as Thursday), the University of Alberta (UofA) AlbertaSat 1 (ex-Alta 1), "will be propelling the province into the space industry by launching the first ever made-in-Alberta satellite."

As outlined in the March 21st, 2017 Satnews post, "University of Alberta's Ex-Alta 1 Smallsat to Dig Into Space Weather," the satellite, "is part of a newer generation of technologies that puts space exploration and research within reach of students and smaller startup companies."

Ex-Alta 1 is part of the international QB50 mission of about 50 smallsats built at universities around the world. The Albertan satellite will examine will space weather and attempt to better understand the powerful forces that pose a threat to spacecraft and other satellites as well as vital power and electronic networks on Earth.

According to the article, a group of senior students involved with the project have created their own spinoff company, Promethean Labs, in order to offer expertise to clients in government and industry to commercialize the lessons learned from the project.

Landing a rocket properly, ready for refueling and reuse. "as God and John W. Campbell intended." Photo of the SpaceX' Falcon-9 historic first landing on an ocean barge on April 8th, 2016. Photo c/o SpaceX.

• Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos aren't the only ones considering reusable rockets. 

As outlined in the March 23rd, 2017 Space Daily post, "Russia, China could cooperate on developing reusable rockets," the South China Morning Post has reported that China "is developing a rocket whose first stage will be designed to be reusable. Such a rocket will be capable of competing with the rocket designed by Elon Musks's SpaceX."

The article quoted Russian military expert Vasily Kashin as stating that, "the development of space carriers with returned stages is now considered as the most important direction for reducing costs of launching spacecraft into the orbit."

The article goes on to state that China should co-operate with Russia, which began work on reusable rockets in mid-2016. 

As outlined in the January 21st, 2016 Space News post, "French government commissions report on rocket reuse, competitiveness," other countries such as France have also been working to ramp up reusable rocket programs.

For more, check out future posts in the Commercial Space blog.

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Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer.

The State of the CDN Space Sector, Our "Innovation Agenda," UrtheCast, exactEarth, More Government & Orbcomm, Which is #1!

          By Henry Stewart

It's just got to be noteworthy that the "second" most important space story in Canada this week (after the ongoing selection of two new CSA astronauts) is the announcement from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that they have released their most recent survey of the Canadian space industry, covering the year 2014.

Yes. 2014. But there's more!

The "State of the Canadian Space Sector 2014" is a direct follow-on to the Euroconsult produced "2015 Comprehensive Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the Canadian Space Sector," which covered 2013 and utilized methodologies developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As outlined by CSA president Sylvain Laporte in the preamble, "the 2014 survey results indicate that the space sector has achieved revenues of $5.4B and a workforce of over 10,000. Upstream segment activities related to research, engineering and manufacturing account for $1B. Downstream segment operations, products and services account for $4.4B, with Satellite Communication dominating the downstream segment. Domestic, and particularly commercial, sales emerged as the most important area for growth in 2014. At the same time, export markets experienced some contraction. Overall, the space sector contributed $2.9B to gross domestic product (GDP) and helped maintain 25,000 jobs (direct, indirect and induced) in the wider Canadian economy." For a direct comparison between the OECD methodologies and the techniques used in the earlier, CSA created "State of the Canadian Space Sector 2013," check out the June 12th, 2016 post, "A Quick Conversation with Euroconsult on the 'Comprehensive Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the Canadian Space Sector.'" Graphic c/o CSA. 

The 2% year over year growth rate for the Canadian space industry as reported in the new document (which was released in February 2017) is substantially lower than the 9% year over year worldwide growth rate reported in the "2015 Space Report; The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity," the annual publication of the Colorado based Space Foundation.

And the 2015 Space Report, which also covered 2014, was released twenty months ago, in July 2015. As outlined in the July 18th, 2015 press release, "The Space Report 2015 PDF is Now Available," the larger international based report indicated that:

... the global space economy grew slightly more than 9 percent (in 2014), reaching a total of $330 billion worldwide, up from 2013's $302.5 billion. 

Together, commercial space activities made up 76 percent of the global space economy. The industry as a whole demonstrated a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of seven percent from 2005 to 2014, nearly doubling in size over the course of the decade.

For those who'd like something a little more current, here are a few of the other stories we're tracking for the Commercial Space blog:

• It's hardly surprising given our first story this week, but it's worth noting that the Canadian Federal government is still in the midst of finalizing its "Innovation Agenda," and the allocation of the $800Mln CDN expected to be spent to support it over the next four years.

At least that's the story in the March 13th, 2017 Canadian Press post, "Feds still finalizing $800M innovation fund." According to the article, "an $800-million commitment central to the Trudeau government’s economic growth strategy is expected to be divvied up within the next few months among groups and companies that can persuade Ottawa they’re best positioned to help young, high-potential firms flourish." 

Ottawa hopes those companies will evolve into strong job creators able to provide Canada with an economic boost and long-term, high paying jobs. However, according to the article, "even with this month’s release of a budget billed as a plan focused on innovation, specifics on the $800-million program will likely have to wait a little longer."

Evidently, at least according to the article, there is still some questions about whether investments will be provided directly to high-growth Canadian companies or focused on funding the universities and incubators which support them.

As outlined in the January 16th, 2017 post, "The REAL Funding Opportunity Behind the Upcoming Canadian Space Agency 'Long-Term Strategy'," no one expects any major money to show up for science and space related CSA driven projects until well after June 2017, when the government said it will unveil its new "long-term strategy" for space. 

The Federal budget is expected to be released next Wednesday, March 22nd.

Some space agencies just know how to do it right. As outlined in the March 8th, 2017 NASA press release, "NASA Selects Over 100 Small Business Projects to Advance Space Innovation," NASA has "selected 133 proposals from US companies to conduct research and develop technologies that will enable NASA's future missions into deep space and benefit the US economy." The proposals, valued at approximately $100Mln US (approximately $135Mln CDN), were selected under Phase II of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It's unfortunate that the CSA has been publicly opposed to the US SBIR program. To learn why, it's worth taking a look at the July 19th, 2009 post “Canadian Space Agency Provides "No Dedicated Programs" to Support Small Aerospace Firms." and the July 24th, 2009 follow-up post "OK, So Maybe the CSA Does Provide Some Support for Small Aerospace Firms" Graphic c/o NASA.

• Vancouver, BC based UrtheCast is raising money. 

As outlined in the March 6th, 2016 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Corp. Announces $17 Million Bought Deal," the company has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Clarus Securities Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Corp,, where the underwriters will purchase, on a "bought deal" basis, 11,333,340 common shares of the Company at $1.50 CDN per common share. 

Aggregate gross proceeds to the company should total just over $17Mln CDN. 

The offering is expected to close "on or about" March 23rd, 2017 and is subject to certain conditions including (but not limited to) the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). 

As outlined in the press release, "the securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom."

The advantage of the bought deal from the issuer's perspective is that they do not have to worry about financing risk, which is assumed by the purchaser or, in this case, by the underwriters.

• Cambridge, Ontario based ExactEarth Ltd. has reported a $2Mln CDN loss in its fiscal first quarter as revenue from a federal government contract fell sharply.

As outlined in the March 8th, 2017 Waterloo Region Record post, "ExactEarth Q1 loss doubles on lower revenue from government contract," the scrappy supplier of automatic identification system (AIS) ocean tracking services (spun off from what used to be COM DEV International before it was purchased by New Jersey based conglomerate Honeywell International in January 2016), lost only $1Mln CDN during the same period last year.

Orbcomm CEO Eisenberg. Photo c/o Orbcomm.

ExactEarth recorded revenue of $3.3Mln CDN in the three months ended January 31st, down from $6.4Mln CDN in the first quarter a year earlier. 

The company blamed the decreased revenue on a Canadian Federal government contract, which accounted for the $3.1Mln CDN difference. 

That contract was originally outlined in the February 14th, 2016 post, "Newborn exactEarth Faces its First Battle for the Worm," and revisited in the May 7th, 2016 post, "Orbcomm, Skywave, exactEarth, CSA Rovers, High School Robotics, MDA, Emerson, Magellan, Honeywell & UrtheCast," 

ExactEarth said it booked $8.9Mln CDN in orders in the first quarter, up from $4.2Mln CDN in the same period a year earlier. 

To no one's surprise, exactEarth's competition for the Canadian government contract, New Jersey based Orbcomm, trumpeted its success to all who would listen. 

As outlined in the March 2nd, 2017 Space Intel Report post, "Orbcomm: Canadian, Australian, European wins show our AIS dominance," Orbcomm CEO  Marc J. Eisenberg said "the company's recent wins of satellite-based AIS maritime vessel surveillance increase Orbcomm's AIS business to around $8 million per year," or more than half of what Orbcomm views as the total global addressable market. 

In other words, they're number one! Canadian firms will just have to wait for the next Canadian government opportunity.

For more, check out future posts in the Commercial Space blog.

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Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer.

UrtheCast Closes $180Mln OptiSAR Deal, SpaceX's Success, Canada's Contribution to SWOT & More Thirty Meter Telescope

          By Henry Stewart

Here are some of the items we're currently tracking for the Commercial Space blog:

Sales and promotion graphic from the UrtheCast website. According to the literature, "OptiSAR™ is designed to be the world’s first fully-integrated, multispectral optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation of Earth Observation satellites. Providing unprecedented capabilities, OptiSAR™ is aimed at solving real-world problems and creating tools for world change." It's worth noting that, when an Earth imaging company receives a contract from a "confidential government customer," that customer is likely to be tied into a national military or intelligence agency. Graphic c/o UrtheCast.

• Vancouver, BC based UrtheCast has announced a "binding agreement" with a "confidential government customer" for the "sale and shared operation" of the first two satellites in the UrtheCast OptiSAR constellation, described by the company as "the world's first commercial EO constellation with integrated optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors." 

The announced value of contract is $180Mln USD ($235Mln CDN) but could include up to an additional $30Mln US (CDN) for "products and services related to the sale of the satellites, contingent on the parties reaching mutual agreement on the final scope of these deliverables."

As outlined in the January 17th, 2017 UrtheCast press release, "UrtheCast Enters into Binding Agreement Worth US$180 Million to Sell and Operate Two Satellites in the OptiSAR™ Constellation," the sale could "accelerate the negotiation of similar agreements with other customers for the purchase of the remaining satellites."

But the agreement is also subject to a number of conditions. 

As outlined in the press release, those conditions include, "UrtheCast obtaining the necessary customer commitments to allow for the build, launch and financing of the first eight satellites in the Constellation, the Customer obtaining within the next 12 months the funding for its payment obligations, the parties reaching mutual agreement on the detailed procedures for the shared operation and tasking of the two satellites, and other customary covenants and regulatory approvals for agreements of this nature."

Ten critical minutes of the SpaceX Falcon-9 return to flight on January 14th, 2017. Screenshot c/o SpaceX/ You-Tube. 

• They said there was a lot riding on the flight and there may have been. But it didn't need to fly on that specific day (it had been delayed previously) and the SpaceX Falcon-9R rocket certainly didn't need to return to Earth, "as God and John W. Cambell intended," on its tail and ready for reuse after a soft landing on the drone-ship "Just Read the Instructions." 

But that's exactly what happened. As outlined in the January 15th, 2017 CBC News post, "SpaceX launches 1st rocket since explosion in Florida,"the two-stage SpaceX rocket "lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:54 a.m. ET carrying a payload for Iridium Communications Inc., which is replacing its entire global network with 70 next-generation satellites."

And, "about nine minutes after the rocket blasted off, to cheers from the control room, its jettisoned first stage landed upright on a so-called droneship in the Pacific Ocean south of Vandenberg — part of Spacex's effort to make boosters reusable."

The Canadian connection to the launch was mostly covered in the January 3rd, 2017 post, "SpaceX Pad Explosion Investigation Concluded; Iridium Launch Scheduled January 8th," and included the first four of exactEarth's next generation constellation, exactView™ RT powered by Harris, as outlined in the January 16th, 2017 exactEarth post, "exactEarth Announces Successful Initial Launch for its Second Generation Real-Time Constellation."

But the title of that January 3rd, 2017 post was also a reminder that the commercial space rocketry industry is a lot like the US rail system, which is often delayed.  

This was the first launch for SpaceX this year and first since a Falcon 9 exploded on the pad in September last year. SpaceX will attempt to launch 27 rockets in 2017, more than triple the eight flights the privately held firm managed in 2016.

An overview of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission presented during the 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), which was organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and took place in Vancouver, BC from July 25th - 29th, 2011. To view the complete presentation, simply click on the illustration above. Image c/o IGARSS 2011.

• The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded a small, $3.8Mln CDN contract to Communications & Power Industries Canada (CPI) for components to be used on the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. 

As outlined in the January 16th, 2017 Waterworld post, "Canadian Space Agency to Provide Components for Survey of Earth's Surface Waters," the Canadian contribution to this international mission is "a set of extended interaction klystrons (EIKs) built by CPI. The high-power EIKs will be used to generate microwave pulses to collect precise water measurements." 

CPI is well known for its expertise in this area and no other firms have built and flown EIKs. In exchange for the contribution, Canadian scientists will have early access to SWOT data and scientific expertise.

As outlined in the August 18th, 2014 CSA press release, "The Government of Canada Announces investment in innovative Mapping System for First-Ever Global Surface Water Survey," this is the second grant provided by the Canadian government to support the mission. The Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper provided an initial $3.3Mln CDN grant to CPI in 2014.

As outlined in the November 23rd, 2016 Spaceflight. 101 post, "SpaceX wins NASA Launch Contract for Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission," SWOT is a  "cooperative effort between NASA and the French Space Agency CNES with the spacecraft currently under construction at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory." 

The total cost of the mission is expected to be approximately to $1.1Bln USD ($1.45Bln CDN) including launch and operational costs. 

The SWOT Canadian science component will be led by teams from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Culture vs. Science. This April 2015 photo shows protesters on Mauna Kea attempting to halt construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Photo c/o Irtiqa.

• The embattled $1.4Bln US ($1.84Bln CDN) Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project has suffered another legal setback. 

As outlined in the January 10th, 2017 Hawaii News Now post, "TMT project could face hurdle with another contested case hearing," a local judge has ordered "yet another contested case hearing before construction on the $1.4 billion telescope can begin, but the state (of Hawaii, where construction is planned) intends to fight that ruling with an appeal in the next few weeks." 

Mauna Kea, where the TMT is currently scheduled to be constructed (and where thirteen other telescopes have already been built), is designated by Hawaii as conservation land under the direction of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. 

Although leased by the University of Hawaii, the university is required to obtain approval before subleasing it to others. 

In April, 2015, the Canadian government under then Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed $243.5Mln CDN to the project. But, as outlined in the December 6th, 2015 post, "Hawaii Supreme Court Rescinds Permit to Build Thirty Meter Telescope," the project began to unravel shortly afterwords. 

And, as outlined in the November 1st, 2016 post, "Thirty Meter Telescope Builders Choose Alternative Site To Mauna Kea In Hawaii," the consortium promoting the project has begun exploring alternative sites

For more, check out upcoming posts in the Commercial Space blog.

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Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer.