This is the end of day panel discussion which finished off the March 19th, 2011 Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) conference and annual general meeting. It focused on “the Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada and took place at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, Ontario.
CSCA Treasurer Chuck Black acted as host for the discussion. 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 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).
- Marie-Eve Ducharme, the President and CEO of Nüvü Camēras.
Topics discussed include:
- The growing Canadian expertise in micro-satellites.
- New initiatives in space science, new sensors and exploration tools.
- Department of National Defense (DND) activities related to northern sovereignty and how these activities act as drivers to help grow the space systems industry.
- Oher growth drivers that are starting to attract government funding and attention including Earth imaging and private initiatives such as on-orbit satellite servicing.
- The growing possibilities now that launch costs are finally beginning to shrink.
Canada has played a key role in developing critical technologies for the space sector for more than 50 years.
But as more countries spend an increasing amount of money on space technology such as satellite development, Canada finds itself in an increasingly competitive business field. So what then are the technologies that Canada can lead in, now and in the future?