usa technology

           By  Brian Orlotti The Canadian Government has announced that it has made a new $49.3Mln CDN investment in Burnaby BC based  General Fusion , a clean technology company developing an alternative form of fusion energy. The investment reaffirms Canada’s commitment to clean energy amidst a global trade war and helps to ensure that Canadian fusion energy talent remains at home. As outlined in the October 26th, 2018 Business in Vancouver post, " Burnaby’s General Fusion lands $49m investment from feds ," the announcement was made by Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development along with Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defence. The funding will enable General Fusion to hire 400 new staff, expand its collaboration with various post-secondary institutions and support development of a 70% scale prototype power plant. Founded in 2002 by Michel Laberge, General Fusion is currently the only Canadian firm develop...

           By  Chuck Black There are very few organizations with worse luck than the ill-fated Canadian Air and Space Museum , a Downsview ON based charity now known as the Toronto International Aerospace Museum because of a spat it got into with the Ottawa ON based Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (CASM), an organization with a very similar sounding name, but better funding. Summer 2018 photo of the replica CF-105 Avro Arrow owned by the museum. Portions of the plastic covering protecting the model have fallen off to expose the model to the elements. Photo c/o  Sameer Haqqi . It operated out of the historic  de Havilland Canada  aircraft manufacturing building from 1999 until 2011, when the museum was evicted by the landlord, the Federal Crown Corporation known as  Park Downview Park  (PDP) for a variety of reasons which, even today, seem contradictory and confusing.  Since then, the organization has been struggling to...

           By Henry Stewart The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that, while the space industry located along Florida’s space coast is flourishing, employers " are scrambling to find qualified employees to temper a national shortage in the science, technology, engineering and math fields ," because of current US legislation, which restricts many well trained, but non-US citizens, from holding down US jobs. He even looks a bit like the young Justin Trudeau. Shayan Shirankekar is a Canadian citizen who grew up on " the unlucky side of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, an hour drive from the US border ," and can't get a Florida space job, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Shirankekar is currently working at an unpaid internship at the  Aldrin Space Institute , on the campus of the Florida Institute of Technology, where he is a PhD candidate. Photo c/o Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel . As outlined in the October 25th, 2018 Orlando Sentinel post, " The...

          By Drew Klein Nearly 50% of the world’s population have no access to basic health services. A new " white paper " from Ottawa ON based  C-COM Satellite Systems  hopes to address this challenge using modern telemedicine and telecommunications technologies. According to the white paper, the vast majority of the world's population lives outside cities, in areas where few hospitals exist and healthcare is sporadic. Those geographical areas with limited to no healthcare accessibility are called ‘ medical deserts ,’ and they continue to expand as people move out of rural regions and into cities. Medical deserts can be found in both developed and developing countries alike. In the United States, approximately 30 million people live more than 30 miles from a hospital that provides emergency care. In Niger, more than 60% of the population (10 million people) live further than a one hour walk to a basic healthcare center. While Africa is urbanizin...

           By  Brian Orlotti Propulsion engineer Adam Trumpour has unveiled the Launch Canada Rocket Innovation Challenge , Canada’s first major rocket competition. The contest will offer Canadians the opportunity to build a home grown space launch capability, in turn fostering a vibrant private launch industry. The announcement was made on October 18th, 2018 at the Montreal Space Symposium . Launch Canada seeks to enable Canada's growing student rocketry community to take their activities to the next level by embracing the idea of ‘ grassroots rocketry. ’ Referring to the success of firms like Hawthorne CA based SpaceX , Kent Washington based Blue Origin and Huntington Beach CA based Rocket Lab , Trumpour made the point that groups initially made up of amateurs have achieved success and are now building sophisticated spacecraft and pushing the envelope of a host of technologies. It is this success that he wishes to replicate in Canada. Trumpour’...

           By Chuck Black It's worth noting that public documents from Brampton ON based MDA Space Missions (a subsidiary of Westminster Colorado based Maxar Technologies ) mostly agree with public policy proposals generated by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) and with the rest of the # DontLetGoCanada coalition, regarding the need for a " balanced space program " with a range of funded activities. Except for the part where Maxar/ MDA has suggested that the best way to build that balanced program is to have the Federal government provide several billion extra Canadian dollars for one specific " third generation " Canadarm for the US led Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G or Lunar Gateway). Who would get the lion's share of that single new funding opportunity? Why, Maxar/ MDA of course! In fact, newly uncovered documents indicate that the #DontLetGoCanada organizers may not have even mentioned the funding requirements for a ...

          By Chuck Black Brampton ON based MDA Space Missions (a subsidiary of Westminster, CO based Maxar Technologies ) group president Mike Greenley made an in-person presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2019 Budget . Mike Greenley with Federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains in May 2018. As outlined in the May 30th, 2018 Maxar Technologies press release, " Maxar's MDA Drives Innovation in Support of Canadian Government Space Activities ," MDA already receives substantial funding from the Canadian government for its programs. Photo c/o MDA . According to the meeting transcript, Greenley claimed to be representing " several hundred other Canadian companies today that are engaged in Canada's space industry ," likely because of MDA's affiliation with the Don't Let Go Canada advocacy campaign, but spent most of his presentation lobbying for funding for a " third ...

           By Henry Stewart It's good that Halifax NS based Maritime Launch Services (MLS) made an in-person presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA)  Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2019 Budget . MLS CEO Matier (left) with and Maksym Degtiarov, the chief designer of the Cyclone 4-M launch vehicle at the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, talks with reporters in Dartmouth NS on December 11th, 2017. As outlined in the December 11th, 2017 CBC News post, " Proposed Canso rocket site hopes to eventually reach 12 launches per year ," MLS has been working closely with designers from the Ukrainian based Yuzhnoye State Design Office . Photo c/o Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press .  But if MLS CEO and president Stephen Matier really want to compete on the open launch market and interest the Federal government in supporting Canadian based initiatives, he should take a look at the most recent  Space Investmen...

           By Chuck Black Many of the most senior of the " usual suspects " involved in Canada's space industry were in Ottawa on October 16th, attending the " Ready for Launch: Preparing Canada for a Future in Space ," conference organized by the Calgary AB based  Canadian Global Affairs Institute  (CGAI). Panel discussion with (from left to right) CGAI moderator Mike Day, former CSA president " Mac " Evans, SAB chair Lucie Stojak, former CSA astronaut Robert Thirsk and current CSA president Sylvain Laporte. Photo c/o  @LeslieSwartman . As outlined first in the September 18th, 2018 post, " Colorado Based Maxar/MDA Asking for $1-2Bln to Build Another Canadarm for the US LOP-G ," it was also a keynote event for the Brampton ON based MDA Space Missions (a subsidiary of Westminster, CO based Maxar Technologies ) and its  Don't Let Go Canada  advocacy campaign to lobby the Federal Liberal government to fund a new, " third generati...

           By Henry Stewart Lucy Stojack, the chair of the Federally mandated Space Advisory Board (SAB), has sent out an e-mail outlining the half dozen events SAB members have attended recently plus listed several additional upcoming events which members expect to participate in this fall. SAB chair Stojak. Photo c/o HEC . According to the e-mail: As the Chair of the Space Advisory Board, I hope this newsletter finds you well rested after the summer and poised for the fall.   This summer was indeed a busy one!   The Board provided updated advice to the Minister on Canadian space opportunities and risks in relation to global space trends as a follow on to our (August 2017) report Consultations on Canada’s Future in Space: What We Heard .   We have also been in regular contact with the Minister’s office (Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains) to provide advice and input as the Government moves forward on the development of a long-term vision for...

           By  Chuck Black Although the participants at several upcoming events over the next few weeks are expected to strongly lobby the Federal government to provide new funding for space focused projects, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has just gone out of its way to remind applicants that, while Federal funding for artificial intelligence (AI) is hot (even when the AI firms being funded are actually space companies), Federal funding for space activities is not. As outlined in the October 15th, 2018 CSA press release, " Strengthening Canada's leadership in AI-driven robotics to support jobs ," the CSA: ... is positioning Canada's space community to maintain its global leadership in space robotics.  Accordingly, the CSA announced today that it is investing $1.6Mln CDN in two concepts for lunar rovers that would use artificial intelligence (AI) to make their own decisions.  According to the press release, Brampton ON based MDA, a subsidia...

           By  Brian Orlotti The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded a total $2.3Bln US ($3.0Bln CDN) in contracts to three firms to develop launch systems for national security payloads. The announcement is a watershed moment, highlighting the entry of a new player as well as new technology into the US national security launch apparatus. The military contracts were awarded to: Kent WA based Blue Origin , which received $500Mln US ($650Mln CDN) to build its reusable  New Glenn rocket . Centennial, CO based United Launch Services (ULS), a part of the larger United Launch Alliance (ULA), which received $967Mln USD ($1.25Bln CDN) to develop its " partially " reusable  Vulcan rocket . ULA is the incumbent in this market and currently provides launch services to the US military using two expendable launch systems , the Delta IV and Atlas V .  Dulles VA based " non-reusable "  Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems , which received $791.6...