usa technology

The Commercial Space blog will be taking a short break over the next two weeks to rest and reconnect with our families and loved ones. We will return with all new stories beginning January 4th, 2019. Until then, Best Wishes to All and a Happy New Year.

           By  Chuck Black RADARSAT-2 , the high-tech Earth imaging satellite held up internationally as a symbol of Canadian technological prowess, was offline in " safe mode " for most of the week and was only revived on Thursday evening, according to Michel Doyon , the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) manager of flight operations, who spoke with this blog earlier today. Doyon also confirmed that the follow-on  RADARSAT Constellation Mission  (RCM), officially scheduled for launch between February 18th - 24th, 2019 will likely be further postponed over concerns about the performance of a reusable Falcon-9 rocket built by Hawthorne CA based  SpaceX  which didn't come down " quite where it was supposed to " earlier this month. As outlined in the December 5, 2018 C-Net post, " SpaceX sends Dragon to ISS but Falcon 9 rocket misses landing pad ," the rocket " succeeded in its primary mission of sending a Dragon spacecraft on its ...

           By  Chuck Black Most Canadians don't think of  Airbus  as a space company. Those who track the industry recognize  Airbus  as the firm which took a 50.1% stake in the Dorval PQ based  Bombardier Aerospace  C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP) in July 2018 to fund the production ramp-up needed to turn Bombardier’s single-aisle C Series (now known as the Airbus A220) into a commercial success. Airbus in Canada. As outlined on the Airbus in Canada website , Airbus is a successful provider " of space technology and solutions to Canada’s government, military, commercial and civil space markets. Airbus’ commercial space credentials include providing advanced geostationary telecommunications satellites to Telesat, a leading satellite operator headquartered in Ottawa. The company’s military communications accomplishments include providing military satellite communication terminal equipment and secure communicat...

           By  Brian Orlotti On December 13th,  Las Cruces NM based Virgin Galactic ’s suborbital Spaceship Two spacecraft, dubbed VSS Unity , reached the edge of space during a powered test flight, marking the first human spaceflight from US soil since the end of the US Space Shuttle program in 2011. After years of delays and setbacks, the company has cause for celebration; for its own success as well as the likely future success of others and the end of US dependence on Russian craft for human spaceflight. As outlined in the December 13, 2018 The Virge post, " Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane finally makes it to space for the first time ," the VSS Unity climbed to an altitude of 82.7 km after launch from California’s Mojave Desert. There is some debate as to whether Unity reached space, since the internationally recognized boundary is 100 km, aka the Kármán line . However, the US Air Force awards astronaut wings to personnel who reach an altitude o...

           By  Chuck Black The issuing of multiple contracts totaling $6.7Mln CDN through the Department of National Defence (DND) to eight Canadian and international companies to develop " situational awareness " applications focused around the analysis and assessment of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data-sets generated from Canada's Radarsat program, is typical of the ramp up of any new military program. But the new contracts issued last week could potentially end up being just another example of Canadian ingenuity arriving late to an international party already bursting with experienced data analytics experts and ingenious applications. As outlined in the December 14th, 2018 Government of Canada backgrounder " Government of Canada announces contract awards aimed at improving space-based earth observation capabilities ," the new awards included: Quebec PQ based ABB Canada , which received $305,000, or one half of the $610,000 required to investig...

           By  Chuck Black The report from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) on the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2019 Budget , under the title " Cultivating Competitiveness: Helping Canadians Succeed " has been released. The report was formally adopted by the Committee on December 6th, 2018 and presented to the Canadian House of Commons on December 10th, 2018. It's essentially a summary of the 493 written briefs and 393 in-person presentations made by a variety of individuals and organizations looking to influence how the Federal government spends the money it collects from Canadian taxpayers. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The report even mentions two sets of recommendations from Brampton ON based MDA (a subsidiary of Westminster CO based Maxar Technologies ) and Nova Scotia based Maritime Launch Services (MLS). As outlined on page 64 of the PDF version of the report : Maritime Launch Services Ltd....

           By  Chuck Black The Quebec City PQ based ABB Canada  measurement & analytics business unit is building sensors for the third in a series of upcoming microsats planned by Montreal PQ based GHGSat and, according to GHGSat president Stephane Germain , it most certainly makes sense to source out high quality Canadian based suppliers for Canadian based projects, especially if they come with the capabilities possessed by ABB. The GHGSat-D short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) optical sensor. According to Germain, the follow-on sensors for the second and third satellites will be manufactured to the same successful, patented design but will also contain a variety of incremental, but useful improvements. " For example, the sensor for GHGSat-C2, will contain a new detector for improved performance. " Photo c/o GHGSat .  " We think we have a strong partnership with both ABB and the University of Toronto Institute of  Aerospace Studi...

           By Henry Stewart One of the most effective and sensible organizations currently advocating for Canadian space activities and the science technology engineering and math (STEM) background needed to support those accomplishments, the AstroNuts Kids' Space Club  is pulling up its Newmarket ON roots and relocating to Calgary. Members of the 2014 AstroNuts Kids' Space Club at the Orlan Space Suit display on the trade show floor of 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2014), which took place from September 29th - October 3rd, 2014 in Toronto ON. From left to right are AstroNuts Ray Bielecki, Tim Fowler (wearing a blue shirt in back), Jack Fallows (wearing the orange jumpsuit in front), Brett Bielecki, Jessica Hunter, Jacob Fowler (wearing the Orlon Soviet space suit), Josiah Harris, Brandon Palos and Tom Harris.  Photo c/o Chuck Black . According to organizer Ray Bielecki, " thank you for all your enthusiasm and support of the As...

           By  Chuck Black The full story is hidden behind a legacy media paywall, available only if you're willing to buy a newspaper or sign-up for a subscription. University of Toronto (UofT) VP of Research and Innovation Professor Vivek Goel and Huawei’s Central Research Institute President Jun Zha celebrate the signing of a " bilateral strategic partnership agreement between the two groups ," in Toronto ON in September 2018. As outlined in the September 14th, 2018 UofT News post, " UofT, Huawei extend research partnership ," the new, five-year agreement, is an extension of an existing partnership which has provided more than $3.5Mln CDN in research funding to UofT projects over the last few years. Photo c/o UofT .  But it's a story with far reaching implications for academic cooperation between Canadian universities, their international partners/funders and pretty much anyone the United States might happen to disagree with. It's th...

           By Henry Stewart Futurist Isaac Arthur has created an interesting video on " Kickstarting Space Industry ," which is available on his Science and Futurism You Tube Channel . The video is focused around robust and profitable industries which would require access to space in order to maximize profits. It's an interesting and reasonably comprehensive inventory of the concerns, constraints and opportunities surrounding the economic exploitation of the high frontier. It notes that humanity already has substantial industries (such as telecommunications, military activities and space science) which require access to space and suggests that there will soon be many more. The sections on solar powered orbiting satellites, space mining, industrial manufacturing, novelty marketing, " space " advertising and pharmaceutical development in the microgravity environments are of particular interest to the entrepreneur. Check it out. _________________________...

           By  Chuck Black Two new initiatives, the first generated through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Federal government ministry responsible for natural resources, remote sensing and regulations under which Inuvik based satellite ground stations operate (but that's a different story), along with a second initiative originating from the Ottawa ON based  Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA Alliance), are both advocating changes to the Federal tax code which (they feel) will encourage independent and innovative private sector activities to grow the Canadian space sector. These new initiative fly in the face of traditional space advocates such as the #DontLetGoCanada coalition , which argue that large lump sums of Federal funds must be distributed to specific contractors, such as Westminster CO based Maxar Technologies (a US based company), in order to build specific projects, such as a " 3rd generation Canadarm " for the propo...

           By  Chuck Black Photo c/o Toronto Star . We live in a twilight period between a post cold-war space race dominated by government space agencies, expensive science projects and covert military considerations and the beginning of what could just possibly be a new, lower cost " commercial " space age. As always, Canada is busy performing its designated " utility player " role. Today's contributions included: Providing an astronaut for the next crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).  Contributing scientific experiments to the NASA Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission, currently in the midst of rendezvousing with asteroid Bennu. Supplying two small satellites, from Cambridge ON based exactEarth and Vancouver BC based Helios Wire , for the NASA Small-Sat Express mission. All three missions either successfully launched from Earth or achieved m...