Preparing for the Manfred Lachs Global Space Governance Conference

          by Sarah Ansari-Manea

The 2nd Manfred Lachs International Conference on Global Space Governance, will be held from May 29th - 31st in Montreal, PQ.

As outlined on the event website, the conference “will provide a neutral setting for the conduct of interdisciplinary deliberations lending themselves to a responsive UNISPACE IV conference addressing issues relating to global space governance.”

The event grew out of various programs which were part of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications including the three United Nations Conferences on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE) and provides a detailed analysis of existing and potential global space governance issues including:

• Human evolution, space migration, and a need for global space governance.
• Current and emerging trends in general global governance.
• The adequacy of existing mechanisms of global space governance.
• The integration of commercial space activities through aviation operations.
• Global governance of human space flight.
• Global governance of natural resources indigenous to space.
• Global governance of the satellite telecommunications sector.
• Global space environmental regulation and governance.
• Global space governance and the challenges of space security.
• Balancing commercial considerations against global space governance.
• Global space governance from a regional perspective.

Manfred Lachs (1914 - 1993), a Polish diplomat and jurist who greatly influenced in the development of international law after World War II. Photo c/o International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.

Some of the many qualified speakers to look for during the event include:

• Cynda Collins Arsenault, the President of the Secure World Foundation.
• Karl Doetsch, the former Chair of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the former president of the International Space University (ISU) and the former acting president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
• Mark Hopkins, the chair of the executive committee of the National Space Society (NSS).
• Daniel Jutras, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at McGill University.
• Sa’id Mosteshar, the Director of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law.
• Walter Natynczyk the current president of the CSA, who will be giving the keynote address.
• Jan Wouters, from the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies in Belgium.
• Scott YIM, from the Office of International and Intergovernmental Relations at the NASA Ames Research Center and Lindsea Wilbur from the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies. 

The 2014 Manfred Lachs Conference is organized by the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL) and the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law (CRASL) in close collaboration with the US based Astrosociology Research Institute (ARI), the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA), the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), the East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), the Harbin Institute of Technology, the Institute of Air and Space Law at the University of Cologne, the Institute of Space Law, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, the Secure World Foundation (SWF) and the Space Policy Institute (SPI) at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Sarah Ansari-Manea.

Registration before May 15, 2014 is highly recommended for this unique, international event.
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Sarah Ansari-Manea is an aspiring astrophysicist, currently completing a specialist in physics and astronomy at the University of Toronto.

Alliances: A Way to Stay in the Aerospace Business?

          by Stephan Brecht

Small aerospace suppliers are having trouble dealing with the price reductions expected by original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) such as Boeing, as part of their "partnering for success" program. 

A Boeing 737-300. As outlined in the March 24th, 2014 ICRA online post "Why Is Boeing Partnering for Success With Its Suppliers," Boeing is under increased competition from other aircraft manufacturers including Airbus, Bombardier and Embraer and has responded with the "partnering for success program" in order to  keep costs down. Photo c/o Wikimedia Commons. 

The implementation of such programs will lead to a reduction in the respective OEM supplier base, which will cause in reduction of costs for supplier maintenance and quality audits etc. The OEMs are able to achieve these cost cuttings in short term, and can show the impacts on their following profit and loss statements. Apparently they do not consider that these actions will affect the options of possible suppliers and therefore the development of prices in the long run, because a significant number of small suppliers will be forced to look for other markets or will disappear from the market.

In the "golden age" of aviation, small companies had been in the forefront in technological development. The OEMs utilized them, for their own advantage because of their flexibility, their ability to advance projects quickly and their affordable cost structure, especially low overhead cost.  Several small suppliers of yesteryear were given the opportunity to grow with the demands of the OEMs and have evolved from a local, small-scale company to today’s ‘Tier 1’ supplier. They began with the development of prototypes and ended with the delivery of serial parts or components. The new policy being implemented will hinder these developments, which might not be in the best interest of the industry. 

Today’s procedures are not new and have had their beginnings in the automotive industry. The so called “Lopez- Effect” was the result of these tries and is still a negative synonymous with cheap and defective components, but it is obviously forgotten by the OEMs of the aircraft industry, which tries to dictate the prices of the supplier. Later, this purchasing policy led to significant complications because of the elimination of choice, as some suppliers became monopolists; what was not conducive for the price and technological development at all. The affected companies (General Motors, Opel, Volkswagen) had to fight with their reputation being on the line because of producing poor quality products; resulting in significant financial losses in the long term.

Héroux-Devtek commercial landing gear. According to the the February 10th, 2014 Bloomberg article "Boeing’s Bid for Price Cuts Seen Squeezing Partsmakers," even large firms are having trouble dealing with expected price reductions for their services. According to the article, Héroux-Devtek was awarded 777X landing-gear work by Boeing in 2013 after original contractor United Technologies refused to provide a significant price reduction for the work. Photo c/o  Héroux-Devtek. 

In the 1990s, the DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), which is now a part of the Airbus Group, started cost reduction programs resulting in hard times for their suppliers. The requirement of cost reduction at that time was caused by the fact that aircraft were sold in USD, but produced in local currencies. The requirement was implemented rigorously by removing lots of small suppliers, which did not have any unique features or the applicable size to fit the prospect of the OEM.

The "risk sharing partner idea" was adopted from the automotive industry. Engineering should be delivered from the company which was foreseen to deliver the serial parts. As a result, it occurred that some suppliers developed parts for free, but never received the order because of a change in technology, cheaper competitors, etc...

Risk sharing means for the OEM shifting costs to the supplier. Engineering, defect liability, research & development, product liability risk, prototyping, AoG actions, all has to be delivered by the supplier. Expensive product liability insurance will be paid by the supplier. If the aircraft program is ceased for any reason, the suppliers will bear the bulk of related costs.  

The head office and main manufacturing facility for Pratt & Whitney (P&W) Canada in Longueuil, PQ. As outlined in the November 1st, 2013 Machine Journal article, "Canadian Aerospace Manufacturer to Invest in Facility, Create Jobs," the firm plans to invest $275Mln CDN into its Longueuil manufacturing facility to expand its Quebec operations. Photo c/o P&W.

All these increased costs do not improve the already low operating margins of the supplier. Low margins may lead to economic problems, which have to be reported to the OEM and may result to the cessation of the business connection and cause a going out of business for the supplier. 

Tom Captain, a Seattle based aerospace and defense sector leader of Deloitte LLP, recommended in his March 17th, 2014 Aviation Week and Space Technology article "Growing Pressure On Suppliers Poses Big Risks For OEMs" that suppliers make investments in machinery, engineering and services. This suggestion is worth considering for suppliers of bigger quantities of duplicate parts.

It may not be applicable for companies which are delivering small quantities of parts, handcrafted parts, customized parts and small companies which do not have a chance to use new investments to full capacity. 

Captain wrote: “Some might drop out of business. Many of the smaller suppliers may be acquired to enable the surviving bigger companies to gain better economies to scale.”

However there is another way that preserves the independence of the suppliers and enhances its attractiveness for the OEM's:  alliance building. The bundling of interests and capacities under a common name will help many small companies to stay in business, because it enables them to perform as "Tier1" suppliers without showing significant overhead cost and losing flexibility and creativity.

Alliances, when professionally planned and executed, can lead to real cost reductions, because they are enhancing the work load and increasing the portfolio of each member. Nevertheless, the alliance has to be properly communicated and connected for the increased number of activities that are to be introduced to the OEMs.

It has proved to combine the sales activities of the Alliance members, in a new distribution company, that organizes project management, quality management and sales for joint aviation projects. It requires hired specialists that have not been working for one of the members of the alliance before, in order to avoid organizational blindness and preoccupation.
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Stephan Brecht, the president of Tama International, has a background of 25 years of experience in the automotive and aeronautical industry. He is Tama's specialist for business development, business plans and marketing.

MOST & ISEE-3: "Abandonware" Satellites Adopted by the Public

          by Brian Orlotti

Two private-sector efforts have recently emerged to resurrect satellites abandoned by government space agencies.

The MOST space telescope, shown here during testing by Jaymie Matthews before its launch in 2003, was officially retired by the Canadian Space Agency last week, although the decision seems to be not completely up to them. Photo c/o CSA.

On April 30th, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced that it will end its support for the Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) space telescope on Sept 9th.

Launched in 2003, MOST (aka the "Humble Space Telescope") was Canada's first space telescope and one of the great success stories of Canadian science. Funded by the CSA at a cost of $10Mln CDN, the satellite was originally intended to be a one-year mission to observe the vibrations of 10 stars in order to provide astronomers with information about the stars' temperature, pressure, interior composition and even age.

Data from MOST has spawned over 100 scientific papers and rewritten astronomy textbooks with important information on planets beyond Earth's solar system. To date, the space telescope has collected data on over 5,000 stars. In 2011, MOST confirmed the existence of 55 Cancri e, a "super-Earth" orbiting the nearby star 55 Cancri A. It continues to gather information on the atmospheres and climates of planets outside our solar system, as well as search for other Earth-sized planets.

In 2013, a CSA review determined that MOST's operational costs exceeded its benefits and recommended that the mission be terminated. The cancellation of MOST can be seen as a cost-cutting measure prompted by the Harper Government's 10% cut to the CSA's budget in 2012, as outlined in the April 9th, 2012 Canadian Press article "Canadian space programs face budget cuts, layoffs."

But MOST project lead Jaymie Matthews, an astronomer at the University of British Columbia (UBC), has stated his intention to keep MOST going via other funding channels, including corporate sponsorship's, crowd funding, and foreign investors. MOST's yearly operating cost is about $500,000 CDN and dirt-cheap by space industry standards. Matthews is confident in MOST's chances of raising additional funds since it remains operational and has a proven track-record of success.

SkyCube. Photo c/o Southern Stars.

And Matthews' plan is not without precedent.

In 2013, a Silicon Valley startup, Southern Stars Group LLC, successfully raised $117,000 on Kickstarter to build the SkyCube nano-satellite. Launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) Antares rocket on January 9th, 2014 and deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on February 28th , SkyCube enables the public to send simple radio messages ("tweets from space") that amateur radio operators around the world can hear as well as request images of Earth from its on-board cameras via a smartphone application called Satellite Safari.

As of April 27th, SkyCube is still operational and there are also others.

As outlined in the May 2nd, 2014 Space.com article "Private Team Wants to Bring 36-Year-Old NASA Probe Out of Retirement," a team of ex-NASA personnel, engineers and programmers are also attempting to bring out of retirement the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) probe, which launched in 1978 and ceased science operations in 1997.

Called the ISEE-3 Reboot Project, the initiative, led by Keith Cowing (a former NASA scientist and current editor of Nasawatch.com) and Skycorp CEO Dennis Wingo, has launched a campaign on crowd-funding website Rockethub to raise $125,000 USD. As of May 4th , they have reached 69% of their target.

Cowing and Wingo are no strangers to reviving old technology, having created the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP), a private effort to extract, digitize and archive the original analog data tapes from the five NASA Lunar Orbiter spacecraft sent to the Moon in 1966 and 1967.

Wingo even coined a new term for the endeavour: "techno-archeology."

The crowd-funding of the MOST space telescope and the ISEE-3 Reboot Project reflects both the continuing decline of government space programs and the increasing involvement of the private sector and the general public in space exploration. Government turning its back on our space heritage is unfortunate, but we can also see a new path taking shape.

Brian Orlotti.

New ventures, financed by those truly interested in space, more open to innovation and freed from the politics of indifference, will allow that heritage to not only survive, but to thrive.
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Brian Orlotti is a Toronto-based IT professional and the treasurer of the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA).

The AstroNuts Kids' Space Club puts on a Science Party

          by Chuck Black

Those who believe that a small group of passionate enthusiasts can't have a far larger effect on the wider community might just want to check out the AstroNuts Kids' Space Club, a Newmarket, ON. based community group, which just finished up its 3rd annual "What's Up in Space Camp and Astronuts STEM Contest" on May 4th.

Members of the 2014 class of the AstroNuts Kids' Space Club including founders Brett and his father Ray Bielecki (at right) during the 3rd annual "What's Up in Space Camp and Astronuts STEM Contest" on May 4th. In the background is a member of the Vader's Fist 501st Legion outfitted as a Star Wars storm-trooper. Photo c/o author.

And while there are those who would consider one astronaut to be hard to come by, the AstroNuts managed to corral three for the event, including retired Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts Chris Hadfield, Bjarni Tryggvason and even current astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

And a fourth, former astronaut Dave "Dafydd" Williams, contributed in his own way from his current position as president and CEO of the Southlake Regional Health Centre. Proceeds from the event went to support the Southlake Regional Hospital Foundation for Cancer Research.  

Also participating were CBC space expert and Quirks and Quarks host Bob MacDonald, space science and business reporter Elizabeth Howell, York University astronomy professor Paul Delany, University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) rover experts Henry Zhu and Chris Staffen along with members of the Ontario Falconry Centre (and their owls and falcons) plus quite a few other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) advocates who put on a show for over 150 interested attendees.

AstroNuts and their parents checking out the event. Photo c/o author.

The core of this particular meeting was the AstroNuts STEM Contest, a science fair for primary school students focused around space themes. As outlined by organizer Ray Bielecki, "whatever projects you have and whatever communities you can create you can go out and do it. If you go after your dreams, you are going to get a trophy, either now or later on in life..."

The AstroNuts have developed substantial local community support in their short existence. For example, Newmarket regional councilor John Taylor, who also made a short presentation during the event, was "impressed and excited by the future of our communities because our children are embracing science, innovation and creativity" through organizations like the AstroNuts.

Glen Iverson, the vice president of  the North American Propulsion and Aerospace Society (NAPAS), a non-commercial, non-profit rocketry organization in front of a variety of rockets used for the NAPAS presentation at the 3rd annual "What's Up in Space Camp and Astronuts STEM Contest." The Toronto based NAPAS provides members with a venue to learn about high power and experimental rocketry through various rocketry related activities, including launches, lectures, seminars and hands-on workshops. Photo c/o author. 

The organization has also received endorsement from Liz Sandals, the Ontario minister of education; Marillyn Hewson, the chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation and Newmarket mayor Tony Van Bynen. 

The club has certainly come a long way in its four years of existence and even since it was  first profiled in the June 11th, 2011 post "Astronut" Brett at NASA for Final Shuttle Launch."

Here's wishing the AstroNuts and their organizers, Brett and Ray Bielecki, the best of luck over the next stage of their evolution.

A small UTIAS SFL rover demonstrated at the 3rd annual "What's Up in Space Camp and Astronuts STEM Contest" on May 4th. Photo c/o author.

Lowered Expectations at the NEW Canadian Space Agency

          by Chuck Black

Eighteen months after the David Emerson led review of aerospace "and space" activities (the Aerospace Review) recommended a complete housekeeping at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and two months after Industry Minister James Moore announced the formation of two committees for public input and fiscal supervision of CSA activities, the new management under CSA president Walt Natynczyk, has defaulted to the comfy, low overhead strategy of funding small, preliminary projects to "run up the flagpole" of other government departments and international organizations where more substantive funding (and political support) might just possibly be found.

Astronauts David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen, with Industry Minister James Moore and CSA president Walt Natynczyk in Ottawa during the February 7th, 2014 announcement of Canada's Space Policy Framework, which incorporated many of the recommendations of the Aerospace Review. The government overview of this new policy approach is described in the "Canadian Space Agency Implementing Canada’s Space Policy Framework" which was made by Natynczyk during a February 25th, 2014 CSA meeting in Longueuil, PQ. Photo c/o Industry Canada.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Here are a few of the more recent awards:

• The largest batch of preliminary awards are outlined in the April 29th, 2014 CSA press release "The Canadian Space Agency supports five studies on microsatellites," which focused on a series "of proposed missions to meet Canadian priorities on security, health and environmental monitoring." According to the press release, CSA will be collaborating on these "feasibility studies" with Environment Canada, National Resources Canada, Parks Canada, the Department of National Defence (DND), the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CESC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada plus the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The contracts were awarded following a request for proposal (RFP) issued in November 2013 and the total value of the five contracts is expected to be $2.3Mln CDN over two years.

ASTRO-H project manager Tadayuki Takahashi. Graphic c/o JAXA.

• As outlined in the April 24th, Marketwire press release "Government of Canada Awards Contract for Canada's Contribution to Japan's Next Generation Space Observatory," the CSA has also awarded a $1.35Mln CDN contract to the Neptec Design Group for ongoing work to develop the Canadian Astro-H Metrology System (CAMS) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). CAMS, a laser alignment system designed to measure the displacement of hard X-ray images, will be a key component of the ASTRO-H x-ray observatory, a satellite currently under development by JAXA.

Hyperspectral data collected by the Galileo Group, as part of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight operations and data collections for a series of missions supporting a NASA sponsored project. The data sets can be used to establish sea grass bed location, extent and its photosynthetic production, and can play a key role in monitoring changes over time relating to environmental conditions. Photo c/o Galileo Group. 

• Of course, some of the larger and more complex awards are no longer even announced through the CSA. Typical of these is the April 23rd, 2014 CNW press release from BC based MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) under the headline "MDA to further concept for Canadian Hyperspectral Mission." According to the press release, MDA has "signed a contract with the Canadian Space Agency to develop the mission concept for an operational Canadian Hyperspectral Mission. MDA will lead a team of experts to develop a satellite constellation concept to collect hyperspectral imagery around the globe and specifically in Canada and its coastal waters on a weekly basis." No dollar amount for the contract was included in the press release but the "ARCHIVED Concept Study for a Canadian Hyperspectral Mission (9F045-13-0556)" page on the Public Works and Government Services Canada website listed the contract as being worth $420,000 CDN and indicates that it was awarded in January 2014.

Now that everyone knows that new initiatives require political and fiscal backing from outside the CSA in order to move forward, business has begun to ramp up the public relations machine.

Typical of these efforts are two potential projects discussed in the April 30th, 2014 Vancouver Sun article "Metro Vancouver firm MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates, looks to future in deep space," which described two potential "deep space" missions, which could move forward, given some cash and the proper public support.

The first, described as "the EML-2 Deep-Space Habitat Mission" would establish a platform or staging area about 60,000 kilometres beyond the moon that could serve as a servicing or fueling depot for future lunar or deep-space exploration missions to Mars and other planets.

The second, an asteroid redirect mission would see "a robotic spacecraft travel to a small near-Earth asteroid (10 metres or less in diameter), capture it and redirect it to a safe orbit on the far side of the moon."

Both missions sound interesting enough but each will certainly require a great deal of public activism over the next decade in order to end up as anything more than another of the innumerable "power-point projects" currently clogging up the public presentations of space advocacy groups. 

Let's see how the public reacts to its new role as arbiter of our domestic space program.

M3MSat and the Politics of Dancing in the Crimea

          by Chuck Black

Politics has intruded into Canadian Space Agency (CSA) programs once more with an announcement that the Federal government "has decided not to proceed" with the planned June 2014 launch of the Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Micro-Satellite (M3MSat) technology demonstrator, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and the subsequent Russian allegations of the M3Msat's possible 'military" uses.

As outlined on the M3MSat webpage on the Earth Observation Portal, "M3MSat is a Canadian technology demonstration mission jointly funded by the Department of National Defence (DND), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), exactEarth LLP and COM DEV Ltd. The overall objective is to provide space borne services in support of Canadian sovereignty, security, safety and communications needs within the territorial and maritime regions of Canada and beyond." The spacecraft was developed in partnership with COM DEV and the University of Toronto, Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) Space Flight Laboratory (SFL). M3MSat is a follow-on project of the UTIAS SFL CanX-6 NTS mission and the second  joint CSA - DND micro-satellite mission. The first one was the Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat), launched in 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. Graphic c/o CSA.

The action was announced in an April 24th, 2014 press release from M3Msat contractor COM DEV International under the title "M3M Satellite Launch To Be Rescheduled."  The press release quoted the "Government of Canada" as deciding "to not proceed with the planned Russian Soyuz launch of M3M, which was scheduled for June this year."

Mike Pley. Photo c/o COM DEV.

There were no immediate indications as to why the announcement was made by the prime contractor for the program and not through normal government channels, but the press release stated that "COM DEV has received an indication that the Canadian Space Agency will support COM DEV's efforts to secure a new launch."

According to COM DEV CEO Mike Pley:

Recognizing the current events in the Ukraine, we had been engaged in discussions with the Government of Canada with respect to a potential delay of the launch of M3M, and plans to mitigate the impact of any delay. 

We are confident that the mitigations will be in place prior to the originally planned M3M in-service date of September 2014.

The launch would also have included two smaller Canadian satellites. There are no details on how those spacecraft will be put in orbit.

The actions are widely considered to be an escalation of Canadian sanctions against Russia over the ongoing situation in the Crimea. As recently as last week, the April 16th, 2014 Canadian Press article "Tensions with Russia not affecting space station: Canadian Space Agency," quoted CSA president Walt Natynczyk as stating that Canada continues to work with "all its partners involved in the space station," even Russia.

Of course, the Russian government was quick to respond to the press release. The April 25th, 2015 RIA Novoski article Canada to Pay for Ditched Launch Contract with Russia - Moscow," quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin as stating that the Canadian government will certainly "have to pay – both in terms of money and reputation – for a decision to ditch the launch of its satellite by a Russian rocket."

Dmitry Rogozin. Photo c/o RT.

Rogozin was also quoted in the article as stating that:

The Canadians screwed things up. They refused to launch the satellite and admitted that it was a military one, despite earlier assurances of its civilian purpose.

RIA Novoski, although admittedly operating under the purview of the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, may have a point in this instance, since the comments simply echo other, similar statements from the Canadian media.

For example, the April 20th, 2014 Canadian Press article "Canadian Space Agency boss insists his appointment does not spell militarization," focused on current CSA president Walt Natynczyk's previous job as the former Chief of Defence Staff and the effects it could have on his current appointment. 

It's also well known that the M3MSat is jointly funded by the Department of National Defence (DND), the CSA, COM DEV along with COMDEV subsidiary exactEarth LLP. An argument relating to the military connections and potentialities of the satellite could certainly be made.

The politics of this latest dance between the Canadian and Russian governments is certainly intriguing. Stay tuned.

Re-flex The Politics of Dancing by Celtiemama

Elon Musk Cries Havoc & Lets Loose the Dogs of Litigation!

          by Brian Orlotti

Elon Musk.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) founder and CEO Elon Musk has set the space industry on fire with the announcement that he will sue the US Air Force over the single-sourced, non-competed Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program contract recently awarded to United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Although at first glance Musk  appears to be taking a risk by challenging the US military-industrial complex and its political allies, the move is actually the core of a long-term, and very practical strategy.

As outlined in the April 25th, 2014 Spaceref Business article "SpaceX to Sue Over EELV Sole-Sourced Contract," the Friday news conference called by Musk to make the announcement even began on a positive note by highlighting SpaceX's recent successful soft-landing of the Falcon 9 V1.1 rocket's reusable first stage off the Florida coast.

But Musk then fired the opening salvo by announcing the lawsuit, which will be posted online at www.freedomtolaunch.com on April 28th, 2014 and then formally filed with the US Court of Federal Claims. According to Musk, the lawsuit was SpaceX's only recourse in light of the EELV contract being unfairly closed to competition.

When asked by a reporter if the lawsuit was prompted merely by SpaceX's not being selected, Musk said SpaceX would be satisfied if the Air Force simply opened its contracting process to competition, be it from SpaceX or other firms. He emphasized that SpaceX's grievance was only with certain individuals within US Air Force procurement, that SpaceX is on "very good terms with the vast majority of the Air Force," and that he had informed them of the lawsuit before going public.

Musk also made of point of highlighting how the EELV certification process had been stacked against SpaceX, describing it as “a paperwork exercise.” He said that the certification hadn't resulted in any changes to the Falcon 9 and implied that the process was simply a stalling tactic used to give ULA an edge.

Musk also linked the EELV decision to the Crimean crisis, questioning the wisdom of the US Air Force's decision to purchase rockets with Russian-built engines at a time of increasing tension between the US and Russia.  Musk even stated that the EELV contract may violate current US sanctions against Russia since Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin seems to be personally benefiting from the hundreds of millions of US taxpayer dollars being sent to Russia for the engines.

The ubiquitous Dmitry Rogozin. Photo c/o RIA Novosti.

The strategy behind Musk's protest of the US Air Force's decision is multi-pronged.

First, by protesting the Air Force's decision, the EELV contract will be placed on hold as the court decides the case, giving SpaceX more time to maneuver politically (much as Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, did when it protested the lease of Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A to SpaceX last year).

Second, the lawsuit will buy SpaceX more time to develop its reusable rocket technology, giving it a huge cost advantage vis-a-vis ULA.

Third, even if the court should rule in favour of ULA, the social capital SpaceX would gain as the underdog "fighting the good fight" against bigger opponents would be useful in later endeavours, such as Musk's plans to colonize Mars.

Brian Orlotti.

Whatever the outcome of this struggle, SpaceX will strengthen its image as an agent of change.
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Brian Orlotti is a Toronto-based IT professional and the treasurer of the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA).

More Canadian Tech for the Space Technology Hall of Fame

          by Brian Orlotti

Two more life-saving space technologies with a Canadian genesis will soon be inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.

The Cospas-Sarsat global satellite system, which grew out of a 1979 agreements between the US, France, Canada and the USSR to jointly develop a global search and rescue satellite system, and the NeuroArm, an image-guided, MR-compatible surgical robot derived from technology originally developed for the CanadArm, will be honoured during the annual Space Technology Hall of Fame gala dinner, which will be held as part of the 30th annual Space Symposium of the Space Foundation on May 22nd in Colorado Springs, CO.

The two technologies join Ottawa based Mediphan, inducted in 2013 and discussed in the April 13th, 2013 post "Canadian based Mediphan Inducted into Space Technology Hall of Fame" along with 68 other space derived technologies, which have been inducted over the last 26 years.

The event is organized by the Colorado Springs based Space Foundation, a US based space advocacy group founded in 1983 to support and raise awareness of the global space industry through various education and outreach programs. The organization also publishes a well respected, annual Space Report on global space activity, which is normally released during the Space Symposium.

The Cospas-Sarsat Global Satellite System

In 1979, the US, France, Canada and the USSR signed an agreement to jointly develop a global search-and-rescue satellite system which became fully operational in 1985. Since its inception, the system has helped rescue over 32,000 people.

The first generation system used five low-Earth orbit satellites to detect signals from emergency beacons and repeat them to ground stations where doppler processing provides the signal location.  These satellites used an instrument called a Search and Rescue Repeater (SARR), developed by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to relay the beacon signal to a local ground station for Doppler processing to obtain a location. The location data is then relayed to search and rescue organizations. 

In 1997, a Canadian government study determined that a better Sarsat system would be one based on medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites. A MEO system would provide full global coverage, accurately determine an emergency beacon's location, and require fewer ground stations. GPS was identified as the ideal MEO system. 

NASA led a development effort to create what will eventually become the Distress Alerting Satellite System (DASS). The next generation DASS will incorporate search and rescue transponders directly on-board various global satellite navigation systems including the US' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the European Union's upcoming Galileo satellite navigation system. DASS will enable satellites to instantly pinpoint an emergency beacon's exact location, thus eliminating the need for ground-based doppler calculations and provide more accurate data more quickly to search and rescue organizations. 

Today, forty one countries participate in the operation and management of Cospas-Sarsat with over 1 million beacons in use worldwide. Cospas-Sarsat is headquartered in Montreal, PQ. 

The NeuroArm

In 1969, NASA invited Canada to participate in the space shuttle program. A request for proposals for a Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) resulted in a proposal from a group of firms including  Spar Aerospace (now MacDonald, Dettwiler), CAE Electronics, RCA Canada and Dilworth, Secord, Meagher and Associates. 

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) began studies on a manipulator system and in 1975, Canada and NASA launched a $110Mln CDN development program. 

The first SRMS (which became known as the Canadarm), was donated to NASA and was followed by four additional systems accomplishing over 90 missions. An improved version, called Canadarm2, specifically built to assemble to components of the International Space Station (ISS), was first deployed in 2001. This was followed in 2008 by the advanced two-armed Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (DEXTRE) which currently performs ISS maintenance and repairs and also serves as a robotics test bed.

Following the success of Dextre, Macdonald Dettwiler was approached by Dr. Garnette Sutherland of the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services in search of partners to help develop NeuroArm, an MRI-guided robot used for performing microsurgery. On May 12th, 2008, a surgical team at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, AB performed the first image-guided neuro-surgical procedure with a robot, with the neurosurgeon controlling NeuroArm from an adjacent room. NeuroArm enables microsurgeries to be both more precise and less invasive

In 2010, NeuroArm's patents and technology were purchased by Minneapolis-based medical equipment firm IMRIS Inc. IMRIS, formerly based in Winnipeg, is now developing a next-generation version of NeuroArm called Symbis.

Brian Orlotti.

The Canadian genesis of these life-saving technologies is a testament to the skill and ingenuity of its space sector. Canadian space technology's rich heritage of enhancing life on Earth as well as in space should be honoured, so that the achievements of our past can inspire us to create a better future.
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Brian Orlotti is a Toronto-based IT professional and the treasurer of the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA).

CSA President Walt Natynczyk Pops-up and Looks Around

          by Chuck Black

Nine months after formally stepping into the role of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) president in August 2013, retired Canadian Forces (CF) Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Walt Natynczyk has finally begun providing details on the direction he's been tasked to take the agency. But the media response to this new openness suggests that there are many questions still to be addressed.

"The General" highlighting important drivers behind "Canada's space policy framework" in Montreal on April 15th. As outlined in the April 15th, 2014 45eNord.ca article "Walter Natynczyk à Montréal: avenir du Canada dans l’espace et Russie," these drivers include sovereignty, security and  national prosperity, plus the creation of a "vigorous" economy derived from space sector innovation and international collaboration. Photo c/o Nicolas Laffont/45eNord.ca. 

In a series of articles related to coverage of his April 15th, 2014 appearance at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (MCFR) to speak on the topic of "A Strategic Vision for the Future of Canada in Space," Natynczyk responded frankly and publicly on a variety of topics.

But the specifics of the answers aren't entirely a glowing endorsement of the CSA or of its ability to follow-through with its proposed role as outlined in "Canada's space policy framework," the Federal government position paper announced by Industry Minister James Moore on February 7th, 2014 and most recently discussed in the April 13th, 2014 post "Power-Points from the February 25th Canadian Space Agency Meeting."

For example, the April 16th, 2014 Canadian Press article "Tensions with Russia not affecting space station: Canadian Space Agency," quoted Natynczyk as stating that Canada continues to work with "all its partners involved in the space station," which include the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan without noting that the final decision to continue on with International Space Station (ISS) activities is primarily a political decision, which likely won't be made at the CSA level.

As outlined in the April 7th, 2014 post "The Crimean Crisis and Canadian Aerospace Activities," other Canadian aerospace and space partnerships have indeed been derailed or curtailed due to the Crimean crisis. The April 19th, 2014 NetNews Ledger article "Canadian businesses should prepare for broader sanctions against Russia" has suggested that further sanctions and more disruption could be around the corner.

International relations might not be the only external constraint on CSA activities. There might also be budget concerns.

For example, the April 15th, 2014 QMI article "Canada to focus on payloads, not rockets, says space boss" quoted Natynczyk as stating that it's cheaper to rent rocket rides from corporations or other space agencies rather than start a launch program from scratch and that "the CSA's budget isn't the only federal money that can be used for extra-terrestrial projects."

The article also quoted Natynczyk's boss, Industry Minister Moore, who said that the CSA has "more than enough money to move forward," but the overall focus of the article on CSA budget concerns suggests that there are those who doubt the official statements in this matter.

The man behind "The General." Industry Minister James Moore watches as a robotic arm performs a demonstration at the official opening of Dynamic Structures Ltd.'s expanded facility in Port Coquitlam, BC in September 2013. Dynamic has been involved in the design and construction of most of the world's largest observatories. Photo c/o Richard Lam.

The most wide ranging interview was the April 20th, 2014 Canadian Press article "Canadian Space Agency boss insists his appointment does not spell militarization," which focused on Natynczyk's previous military job and the effects it could have on his current appointment. According to the article, the government retains full confidence in Natynczyk and his abilities to manage the CSA.

Commercializing the Winners of the Space Apps Challenge

          by Brian Orlotti

In its first two years, the Toronto Space Apps Challenge, held this year at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, ON from April 11th - 13th and part of the larger NASA International Space Apps Challenge, has established itself as a crucible for the commercialization of applications leveraging NASA's extensive collection of spacecraft and science data.

The great hall of the Ontario Science Centre (OSC), home of the 2014 Toronto Space Apps Challenge. Photo c/o Brian Orlotti.

Now, one of the space hackathon’s NASA liaisons, in town over the weekend to attend and judge the Toronto event, is seeking a way to take things to the next level.

First held in 2012, the International Space Apps Challenge brings together coders, makers and entrepreneurs from around the world to form teams and solve various "challenges" developed by NASA. Over 48 hours, teams create software and hardware solutions to these challenges by leveraging NASA science data (be they from satellites, space probes or other assets).  In 2013, over 9,000 people in 83 cities across 44 countries took part. Through the challenge, NASA strives to foster innovation and make space exploration more visible and engaging to the public.

Challenges worked on this year by Toronto teams include:

• Where on Earth? - In this challenge, the team must create a game or an applications which displays satellite images of places around the world and asks users to guess where they are using data from NASA’s Earth observing system. The Toronto team competing in this event, from Bitmaker Labs, chose to write their application using ruby-on-rails, an open source web application framework which uses the ruby programming language.

• Gravity Map - This challenge involved creating an app that shows the gravity force for any location on Earth, utilizing data from the European Space Agency (ESA) gravity field and steady-state ocean circulation explorer (GOCE). The Toronto team, composed of undergrad University of Waterloo students, decided to code their app for the Pebble smartwatch platform, which seemed appropriate since Pebble sponsored the Toronto event and provided loaner units for teams to develop on. The completed application would enable the Pebble watch to show how high you could jump at a particular spot on Earth vs other planets as well as how fast you could fall.

• Asteroid Imagery Sharing - In this challenge, the teams designed an open-source platform for sharing crowd-sourced asteroid imagery and observed near Earth objects to enable ordinary people around the world to identify and characterize potentially dangerous asteroids. The Toronto team tackling this challenge, made up of web developers and York University Business students, developed an "AstroMap" application to harness data taken from different sources including Google Sky (which utilizes data from NASA plus amateur astronomers) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Center. The team envisioned their application as an educational tool for use in schools.

According to NASA open innovation program manager Beth Beck, who attended the Toronto event as a judge, the Space Apps Challenge was created by former NASA Open Innovation Program members Nicholas Skytland, Ali Llewellyn, and Sean Herron to fulfill a White House mandate (later extended to other US agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency), to make US government data available to the public for use. This released data, when promoted through mechanisms like the Space Apps Challenge, would encourage the development of a global community to drive innovation and create new uses for NASA derived data. Beck and her bosses at NASA anticipate that this "solver" community would give rise to new companies and industries, but could also be incorporated back into NASA’s own programs.

Beth Beck with author Brian Orlotti at the OSC on April 13th. 

In an interview during the Toronto event, Beck said that since the contest’s global success has proven the effectiveness of the open innovation program model, she wants to add layers of complexity to the event in order to achieve more.

For example, the length of the contest could be extended from three days to a week in order to give the teams more time to develop their projects. In addition, NASA is developing an open source software portal, similar to the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) open catalog as described in the March 13th, 2014 blog post "DARPA Goes Open Source as Others Beg for Government Assistance," in order to provide a central location for the projects created by Space App Challenge teams.

Beck was asked if there was any mechanism in place to connect the winning teams with investors and intellectual property experts so as to enable them to bring their innovations to market. She stated that although NASA does not directly perform such services, NASA does send team videos to investors, provides contact lists to all contest participants and gathers the top teams to pitch their ideas on stage (“TED with teeth” as she called it). Beck also said that NASA was open to working with Canadian investors and IP experts.

She also spoke about a related initiative. Called LAUNCH, it's a partnership between NASA, the US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Nike. LAUNCH’s purpose is to serve as a global incubator for ideas, technologies and programs that make tangible impacts on society by connecting innovators with investors. “Innovator Speed dating,” is what Beck called it.

Drawing on her PhD studies in the ‘practice of collaboration,’ Beck provided perhaps the best insight into the Space App Challenge’s success.

Brian Orlotti.

We are messy people…creativity is messy. Order doesn’t always get you where you want to go.

Chaotic creativity and orderly execution. The International Space Apps Challenge is artistry and engineering both.

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Brian Orlotti is a Toronto-based IT professional and the treasurer of the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA).

Power-Points from the February 25th Canadian Space Agency Meeting

          by Chuck Black

The Concordia Institute of Aerospace Design and Innovation (CIADI) has posted presentations from what the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has billed as its 1st "Annual Space Summit," which was held at CSA headquarters in Longueuil, PQ, on February 25th.

As outlined on the March 24th, 2014 post on the CIADI website, the CSA event focused on the specifics of the Federal government strategy to implement Canada's space policy framework, first announced by industry minister James Moore on February 7th, 2014.

But while the broad outlines of the day's activities were well known and previously discussed in a variety of publications (including the February 24th, 2014 blog post "the Casablanca of Space Conferences"), the devil is always in the details.

Walt Natynczyk. Photo c/o CSA.

Fortunately the people responsible for filling in those details were present for the event. They included Col. Andre Dupuis, the director of space development at the Department of National Defence (DND), who spoke on the topic of Integrating Space in Canadian Forces Operations; John T. Weaver from the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) Ottawa research centre who discussed the DRDC Space Science and Technology Program; Prashant Shukle, the director general of the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, who assessed issues involved with Innovating to Increase the Impact of Earth Observation (EO) & Geomatics in Canada; Michael Manore, the director of monitoring strategies for the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) who assessed the Space Activities and Priorities of Environment Canada and even Walter Natynczyk, the generally publicity shy CSA president who dropped in for an overview of how the CSA intends to Implement Canada's Space Policy Framework.

The day also included workshops on a number of themes including the commercialization of government funded technologies, the development of innovation processes and key industry capabilities, the future of Canadian contributions to the International Space Station (ISS) and other space exploration initiatives, how the Federal government perceives its role in Earth observation and satellite services, how the Federal government perceives that government, industry and universities will work together to encourage innovation plus the role of stakeholder in the process and how to manage them.

A cursory reading of the day's presentations suggests an almost complete acceptance of the recommendations of the David Emerson led Aerospace Review as outlined in the December 12th, 2012 post "What the Space Volume of the Aerospace Review Actually Says." 

But there is also at least the suggestion that CSA still perceives itself as being able to manage and influence the processes related to Canadian space activities.

As outlined in the February 15th, 2010 post "Ottawa Citizen: "Where did that Long Term Space Plan Go?" that perception might just be an artifact of an earlier era.