Deep Space Industries at CSCA National Conference in Toronto on March 7th

Rick Tumlinson.

Commercial space advocate Rick Tumlinson, the chairman of Deep Space Industries Inc. and considered to be one of the 100 most influential people in the space industry by Space News, will be speaking at the upcoming Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) National Conference, being held in Toronto, ON on March 7th, 2013.

Tumlinson will provide an overview of this new company, the “FireFly” spacecraft which will perform the search and the 3D printing system (called the "MicroGravity Foundry") which will use nickel to create "high-density high-strength metal components even in zero gravity."

As outlined in the January 22nd, 2013 PRWeb press release "Commercial Asteroid Hunters announce plans for new Robotic Exploration Fleet," Deep Space Industries has announced that it will send a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the solar system to hunt for resources to accelerate space development to benefit Earth.

The CSCA conference, focused on commercial space resource utilization, and taking place just one day after the 2013 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Annual Conference (PDAC 2013) in Toronto, will also include presentations from:

Dale Boucher.

• Dale Boucher - The director of product design, prototyping and testing at the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT). Mr. Boucher is also active in the Space Resources Roundtable (SRR) and the upcoming Planetary and Terrestrial Mining and Sciences Symposium (PTMSS) being held in Toronto from May 5th - 8th, 2013 as part of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Annual Convention (CIM2013).

Ram Jakhu.

• Ram S. Jakhu - As an associate professor of space law at the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law, Dr. Jakhu teaches and conducts research in international space law, the law of space applications, the law of space commercialization, the government regulation of space activities, the law of telecommunications and Canadian communications law, and public international law. Since 2009, he has also acted as an advisor on Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space within the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Lana Paton.

• Lana Paton - A partner in the tax services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. With a broad range of experience providing tax advice to mining companies and multinationals including knowledge on Canada's Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (commonly called the "super" flow through program) and the Canadian Exploration Expense (CEE), Ms. Paten develops detailed and highly successful tax plans for her clients whether they work in a terrestrial or an extraterrestrial environment.

Nicole Verkindt

• Nicole Verkindt - The CEO of Toronto based OMX Marketplace, an online database set up to provide government contractors with Canadian suppliers able to fulfill Industrial and Regional Benefit (IRB) program obligations. Ms. Verkindt, will discuss the over $20 billion dollars still remaining to be fulfilled under the program and add some insight on how Canadian mining, manufacturing, aerospace and space firms can access it.

Peter Visscher.

• Peter Visscher - The space and robotics manager for Ontario Drive and Gear (ODG). With the expertise his firm has developed building the Canadian Artemis Jr. lunar rover to meet the requirements of NASA's Regolith & Environment Science and Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) project, expected to hunt for water, ice and other lunar resources, Mr. Visser will talk about the hardware available in Canada today which can contribute to commercial space resource utilization.

Topics and other speakers will be announced over the next few weeks. As well, a late afternoon panel discussion, focused on “After Emerson and after Steve MacLean: Canada’s Space Future for the CSA and the Domestic Space Industry” will also take place.

For more information or to register, please go to the CSCA website. 

A Nautilus-X for the Next "HMCS Bonaventure"

HMCS Bonaventure in 1965.

It's only been up for a day, but my July 4th, 2011 post "Ground Control to Marc Garneau" has already spawned more than its fair share of private comments, most of them focused on how much easier it is to critique a plan of action than to originate one.

But there are several obvious research areas where a bit of judiciously provided Federal government money could make the difference in guaranteeing future Canadian space competitiveness across a wide range of opportunities.

These potential research areas and emerging technologies aren't focused on unmanned robotics or simple Mars rovers. Instead, they are directly applicable to solving propulsion, orbital construction and environmental/ habitation concerns relating to long duration, manned, interplanetary spaceflight.

This makes them a far better way to ensure the continuation of the Canadian astronaut corps than anything wrapped around unmanned activities could ever possibly pretend to be.

Here are four specific areas where Canada could contribute, right now, to the proposed Nautilus-X interplanetary spacecraft as described in the February 14th, 2011 Popular Mechanics article "New NASA Designs for a Reusable, Manned Deep Space Craft, Nautilus-X" or to any other manned spacecraft program for that matter.

A conceptual design for the Nautilus-X MMSEV, non-atmospheric universal transport intended for lengthy multiple mission space exploration.

The design is based around inflatable modules built by Bigelow Aerospace with swappable propulsion systems including electrical propulsion like the variable specific impulse magneto-plasma rocket or VASIMR (which is scheduled for testing about the International Space Station), requires only "two or three rocket launches" to prepare, has a two year range (and could reach Mars and then return in a matter of months instead of years), carries six people, includes protection from solar radiation and could be available within ten years for only $3.7 billion USD (at least according to the Popular Science article. The HobbySpace website also has a pretty good description of the spaceship here).

How could Canadian companies contribute to this project, should it ever receive funding and move forward?

Some would argue that we are already contributing to the propulsion component through Nova Scotia based Nautel Limited, which is acting as a subcontractor to US based Ad Astra Rocket Company to develop RF power solutions for deep space plasma propulsion, according to the article "Nautel: Where it Really is Rocket Science" posted on the company website.

Of course, money for this initiative is tight and the company makes most of it's profit from the design, manufacture, sales and support of high power radio frequency (RF) products for AM and FM broadcast, navigation, industrial and space-based applications.

Perhaps the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) could help out with a couple of contracts to help move this technology forward.

Since the Nautilus-X proposal also requires "two or three" rocket launches to prepare, it is expected that there will be a requirement for orbital construction.

For this, we can turn to Canadian space systems company MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA), with it's legacy of expertise using the iconic CanadArm to help build the International Space Station and it's current $280 million USD contract with satellite operator Intelsat to perform on-orbit satellite servicing as outlined in my April 3rd, 2011 post "A Backgrounder for On-Orbit Satellite Servicing."

The Canadarm unloading cargo during STS 116.

Generally considered the most experienced space robotics company in existence, MDA has progressed far beyond the robotics generally required to build a small Mars rover, although its not been so proud as to refuse a recent CSA contract for the development of a small Moon rover.

For food and life support, we could contribute through some of the tools being proposed as part of the Canadian Advanced Life Support Systems (CanALSS) Roadmap as described in the April 18th, 2008 CSA press release "Proposed Canadian Advanced Life Support Systems (CanALSS) Roadmap Workshop Announcement."

The CanALSS program is ongoing and was most recently discussed by ComDev International VP Ron Holdway at the last Canadian Space Commerce Association conference and AGM in March 2011 as described in my March 20th, 2011 post "News and Notes from the 2011 CSCA Conference." The concept of building space greenhouses to grow food and provide an ecology for space habitats seems like a slam dunk for space agencies and organizations looking at long duration missions and trips to Mars, even if they're not using the Nautilus-X. 

We might also want to take a look at the work being done by Ivan Milan, the owner of EcoSpace Engineering and the University of Guelph, which together have developed a methodology utilizing insect larvae to process organic waste into "nutrient rich organic fertilizer and protein rich animal feed in just a few days without the use of chemical additives and absolutely no residue or pollutants" according to the EcoSpace Engineering website.

According to the May 6th, 2011 post "Manning Innovation Awards: Trends in Canadian Innovation" on the MaRS Discovery District website, Milan and Ecospace have even recently received a Manning Innovation Award, which is usually a first step in Canada to additional funding.

So we've got Canadian companies capable to of dealing with propulsion, life support, waste disposal and construction. With so much of the technology available in Canada to build major components of an interplanetary, manned spacecraft, it's odd that our government and CSA leaders are focused instead on smaller, unmanned projects.

HMCS Haida postwar.

While the Nautilus-X is not presently funded, quite a number of other potential projects are coming down the pipe just waiting for innovative companies to contribute useful technology relating to propulsion, construction and environmental/ habitation concerns.

Canada would be well served by encouraging it's space system firms to contribute to these projects.

At some point, perhaps Canadian companies could even begin contributing enough to have vessels named after famous Canadian ships like "Bonaventure" or "Haida."

Then we'd really "punch above our weight."


COMMENTS:


From: Spacemit

I thought you might be intrigued by a new Canadian scientist who has innovated, developed and built two different types of electric space propulsion systems whilst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Both projects are partially funded by the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

The Micro-fabricated Electrospray Ion Thruster (MEIT)  in particular is suitable for micro and nano satellites as its designed to scale up using innovative micro-fabrication techniques applied to porous materials to eliminate the need for heavy  pumps and valves in the complete engine. It's very small and lightweight.

The other engine is for larger satellites and is called the DCF thruster.

You can get details and the respective PhD thesis and related publications by clicking on the links at http://www.wix.com/dancourtney/main#!__projects and http://www.wix.com/dancourtney/main#!__phdabstract.

Would Canadian industry or DND be able to exploit these technical advances?

Who knows but nano and micro satellites currently do not have any propulsion, but with the MEIT would enable far wider mission scenarios. Even just being able to de-orbit under control and in a short time rather than being space junk could be useful.

Editors Note: I'm still having trouble posting comments but if there is something you'd like to comment on, I'm posting comments manually so don't be shy. Send your questions, queries, concerns and comments to mr.chuck.black@gmail.com.

Breakthrough Space Technologies Panel Discussion Posted

Marc Boucher, my colleague over at Spaceref.ca has posted the panel discussion which finished off the recently concluded Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) 2011 conference and annual general meeting.  Focused on "the Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada," the conference took place on March 19th, 2011 at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Ontario.


Panel Discussion: The Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada on Vimeo.

I acted as host (that's me standing on the far left leaning over the podium) and the other participants, from left to right included Joshua Brost, the Manager of Business Development for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX); Ron Holdway, the VP of Government Relations for Com Dev International (and also the current president of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute); Frank Teti, the Manager of Autonomous Robotics for MacDonald, Dettwiler (MDA); Olivier Daigle, the Chief Technology Officer for Nüvü Camēras; Steve Bochinger, the President of Euroconsult North America; Chummer Farina, VP of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Marie-Eve Ducharme, the President and CEO of Nüvü Camēras (who, unfortunately spent most of the discussion on the far right just out of camera range).

In the introductions, I compared the present panel with the 2006 International Astronautical Congress (AIC) round table on "Major Space Markets in the Next 20 years and the Corporate Approach for Success." This earlier panel, moderated by Virendra Jha (then VP Science, Technology and Programs for the CSA) also included Mag Iskander (then Executive VP and General Manager Space Missions for MDA) and quite a few other major figures in aerospace.

But with all those experts on the earlier panel, it was very amusing to note how each acted amazed at the things that have happened over the last twenty years, then marveled at how most of it was completely unexpected but then stated unequivocally that the market has likely stabilized and will now remain essentially the same for the foreseeable future (with one or two predictable exceptions which are logical progressions of already existing trends).

In essence, nobody really saw the near future or felt comfortable talking about all the amazing changes that were just about ready to occur in the space systems industry at the domestic and the international level over the next six years.

For the current panel, I wanted to insure that they weren't going to end up following along the same path as the earlier panel and would instead focus on the core discussions around space focused technologies where Canada can lead now and continue to do so in the future.

So I started by telling the panelists that they had to do a better job than the earlier panel. I hope they took my admonition in the spirit with which it was intended.

I do think they succeeded in outlining for discussion the important issues surrounding the next breakthrough space technologies for Canada including our growing expertise in micro-satellites, new initiatives in space science,  new sensors and exploration tools, Department of National Defense (DND) drivers related to northern sovereignty and other drivers that are starting to attract government funding including Earth imaging, new private initiatives such as on-orbit satellite servicing and the increasing capabilities possible now that launch costs are finally beginning to shrink.

But I've also included the earlier 2006 discussion so that people can compare the two, just in case I'm wrong.

News & Notes from the 2011 CSCA Conference.

According to the March 17th, 2011 Canadian Press article "Worry Canada could fall behind in the space business" there is "concern that Canada may eventually fall behind in the increasingly competitive field of satellites and other such technology."

That quote is mine, as indicated in the article and I stand by it, but its only a part of what we were hoping to highlight at the 2011 Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) conference and annual general meeting, held last Friday at the MaRS Discovery District.

Here are a few of the other interesting things that were also going on:

Grant Bonin.

• The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) seems to have received some useful publicity through the March 18th, 2011 Canadian Press article "Mini-satellites paying off for U of T flight lab" which states (and rightly so) that the "Institute for Aerospace Studies is building more small satellites than any other organization in Canada." The article also quotes UTIAS SFL Project manager Grant Bonin (likely out of context) as stating that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has limited funds and can do only so much. To correct the quotation, Mr. Bonin has indicated that what he said was that "the CSA had been extremely helpful to us [SFL], and we have an excellent continuing relationship with them." When asked what he thought about the CSA funding things like a Canadian alternative launch vehicle (LV), he said that "the CSA can only be expected to do so much with its existing budget, and that a Canadian LV was probably more than could be practically afforded right now

Josh Dore.

• Speaking of the CSA, it's worth noting that Josh Dore, the technology development manager for the CSA provided a useful outline of CSA missions, structures and requirements in his presentation on commercializing space technologies and CSA VP Chummer Farina ably contributed to the panel discussion at the end of the day. Both specifically mentioned funding restrictions and the impact that funding and government priorities have on the implementation of CSA programs. Both also strongly suggested that business and the public actually have more input into the process than is generally realized and somewhere along in the discussion, it was also mentioned that the federal budget is coming down this week, which could quite likely lead to an election in May 2011. Federal government agencies like the CSA generally don't embark on new policy initiatives during election campaigns.

Steve Bochinger.

• The CSA assessment was echoed by Euroconsult North America President Steve Bochinger in his presentation on the "Canadian Space Sector in the International Landscape" where he stated that the Canadian space program has to deal with "permanent budget tension" which has re-focused the traditional Canadian support for pioneer technologies (such as robotic, radar and broadband) into specific support for individual operational systems (such as the Polar Communications and Weather mission and the Radarsat Constellation mission) and demonstrations (such as NEOSSAT and SAPPHIRE). According to Bochinger, the recent difficulty Canada has had formulating a long term space plan highlights "unclear Canadian governance" and makes it unlikely that the CSA alone will be able to develop and commercialize next generation breakthrough technologies.

Frank Teti.

• Frank Teti, the MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) manager of autonomous robotics provided a useful overview of the MDA space infrastructure servicing (SIS) project but left out the most important part. Sources at MDA have indicated that a Friday, March 18th, 2011 informational session at the MDA Brampton robotics factory (which will likely perform most of the work on the SIS project) focused on how MDA has moved away from being reliant on "big government contracts" towards a business model focused almost entirely on "commercial services." As outlined in my March 15th, 2011 blog post  "Macdonald Dettwiler Gets "Anchor Customer" for Brampton Robotics Plant" the company has entered into a $280 million dollar agreement with satellite services provider Intelsat S.A for the on-orbit refueling and servicing of Intelsat satellites.

An artists rendering of Martian greenhouses.

• Com Dev International VP of government relations Ron Holdway was one of the happy surprises of the day with his well researched presentation on the Canadian Advanced Life Support System (CanALSS). The project, although previously promoted and most recently presented at the November 2010 Canadian Space Summit (and profiled in the November 25th, 2010 Spaceref.ca article "Closed Life Support Systems Developed for Space also help Canada's Northern Communities") is not really all that well known outside of the "usual suspects" who track the Canadian Space industry. However, it's got a legitimate business case for becoming the next breakthrough space technology and Holdway, who is also the 2011 President of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI), should be commended for his efforts to keep the project in the public eye. The concept of building space greenhouses to grow food and provide an ecology for space habitats seems like a slam dunk for space agencies and organizations looking at long duration missions and trips to Mars.

Christian Sallaburger.

• Holdway and MDA VP Christian Sallaburger also gave a quick, unscripted and informative presentation in their roles as advocates for the Canadian Alumni of the International Space University (CAISU) which supports the International Space University (ISU). ISU graduates a surprising number of Canadians who end up working in Canadian space focused businesses like Com Dev and MDA. Sallaburger is no stranger to the CSCA, having presented on the topic of "Structuring for Success in the Commercial Space Sector" at the 2010 CSCA conference and annual general meeting. 

Canadian Venture Capital Association.

• A number of smaller companies also received useful exposure to the larger space focused Canadian community. These include Nuvu Cameras (which talked about their newly developed camera and why NASA just had to buy it) and the three firms participating in the Start-Up liftoff presentations, where companies present start-up ventures in a format modeled after the successful O'Reily Ignite Talks. Hopefully this will impress the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) which traded membership with the CSCA and is listed as a platinum sponsor for the event.

Maj. Marc Fricker.

Also of note were the presentations from Joshua Brost, the manager of business development for Space-X and Maj. Marc Fricker, who presented remotely from his office at the Royal Military College (RMC). Both mentioned a defined Canadian need for a small micro-sat launch capability but Brost focused on how vertical integration was the key to his firms success and Maj. Fricker focused on the Canadian Defense Space Program (which was supposed to be public policy by now but seems to be stuck in a perpetual committee meeting in Ottawa, just like the CSA's long-term space plan). 

No doubt this isn't a comprehensive list of everything that happened on Friday (after all, I spent the day in the front of the room as the host) but it does seem to be a fair overview of some of the more interesting items.

For those looking for a second point of view and a little more context to the event, it's worthwhile checking out the March 21st, 2011 Marc Boucher editorial over at Spaceref.ca titled "Harper Government and Ottawa Bureaucracy Hamper Commercial Space Industry."

Macdonald Dettwiler gets "Anchor Customer" for Brampton Robotics Plant

Satellite services provider Intelsat S.A. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) for the on-orbit refueling and servicing of Intelsat satellites, according to the March 15th, 2011 press release "Intelsat Picks MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. for Satellite Servicing."

The MDA space infrastructure servicing vehicle, connected to a client satellite.

According to the press release, the services provided by MDA to Intelsat under this agreement are valued at more than US$280 million over the initial terms of the contract. The program, which is priced as a service and will be offered to other satellite providers, is expected to be operational before 2015.

MDA President Friedmann

According to MDA President Dan Friedmann, the contract will provide an "anchor customer" allowing MDA to move forward with its Space Infrastructure Servicing (SIS) vehicle, which will be launched "into near geosynchronous orbit, where it will service commercial and government satellites in need of additional fuel, re-positioning or other maintenance."

In a conference call this morning, Friedmann stated that the SIS system will be based on work that MDA has previously performed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and other civilian and military agencies. The program will also help "leverage the existing skills" of the MDA Brampton Robotics division, which is responsible for the US space shuttle's Canadarm and the Mobile Servicing System for the International Space Station (ISS).

As previously reported in my March 3rd, 2011 post "Downsizing Announced at MDA Robotics" the Brampton robotics plant was bracing for layoffs without an ongoing "anchor customer" to replace the work surrounding the space shuttles.

Today's announcement will not eliminate those layoffs (forty are expected to be laid off this year) but may reduce the overall downsizing in subsequent years. It is expected that the SIS program will eventually employ 100 plus people.



MDA has also selected Intelsat General Corporation as its exclusive channel to bring on-orbit services to the US Government.

The Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada

There are a lot of robots aboard the International Space Station (ISS) these days but only one of them is our iconic and Canadian built CanadArm.

Image of the European robotic arm on the ISS.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has the JEM RMS and the Small Fine Arm (SFA) while the European Space Agency (ESA) makes do with the European Robotic Arm (ERA) and the Russian’s use Strela, a manually operated robotic device. Even General Motors has Robonaut, built in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under an agreement to develop “robotic assistants” for both astronauts and GM manufacturing plant employees.

Given the above, does Canada still enjoy that historic lead in robotics we once used as leverage for Canadian astronaut trips aboard 13 NASA and two Soyuz manned missions over the last two decades?

Some of my colleagues over at the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) think that perhaps it's time to assess this changing landscape and get a grip on the evolving opportunities for Canadian businesses looking to leverage their space focused technical expertise on the world stage.

The VASIMR electric propulsion system.

We're looking to begin this discussion at the 2011 CSCA conference and annual general meeting focused on “The Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada” which is being held on Friday, March 18th, in the MaRS Development District in Toronto, Ontario.

All are welcome to attend and speakers and registration information will be posted on the CSCA website over the next few days.

Some of the questions we're looking to discuss include:

• What are the next “breakthrough” technologies that will allow Canadian companies to continue “punching above our weight” in the international arena?
• Should we be looking at Martian rovers, or electrical propulsion technology, or  or a next generation Canadarm (perhaps optimized for in-orbit servicing) or new devices for measurement and detection?
• Does Canada need the capability to launch small orbital payloads to defend our arctic sovereignty?
• How will the budgetary challenges and confusion occurring at NASA affect the capabilities and our ability to partner with our largest traditional space partner.
• Where are the next domestic and international space focused commercial opportunities going to come from?

Or is there perhaps even something else on the horizon that we should be aware of?

To find out for sure, you're just going to have to attend the conference. I look forward to seeing you there.