Canada In Space

My special guest this week is William “Mac" Evans. Mac, as most people refer to him, is a thirty plus year veteran of the Canadian space program and in 2016 became a member of the order of Canada. He helped create the Canadian Space Agency, negotiated Canada’s participation in the International Space Station Program and was the longest serving president of the Canadian Space Agency.Today we’ll be talking about some of the history of Canada’s space program to better understand how we got to where we are today. We’ll also discuss space strategy and planning and what direction Mac thinks the program should take.

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My guest today is freelance reporter Elizabeth Howell. Elizabeth is a contributor to SpaceQ along with writing for several other publications. She’s also a journalism instructor at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, Algonquin College and La Cite collégiale. Elizabeth will be heading to the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan next week to cover the launch of Expedition 58 to the International Space Station. Onboard will be Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques who will be on a six month mission. That’s one of the topics we’ll discuss this week.We’ll also discus last weeks Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa that featured prominent cabinet ministers including Transportation Minister Marc Garneau and ISED Minister Navdeep Bains. Also at the summit and key to what did or didn’t transpire, was NASA’s administrator Jim Bridenstine.Listen in.- SpaceQ special: David Saint-Jacques mission. Don't miss a single news story, video or breathtaking image.http://www.spaceq.ca/tag/david-saint-jacques/

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Space debris is an issue that's not going away. In fact, it will get worse before it might get better. For Astroscale, an Asian startup based in Singapore and Japan, that spells business opportunity while doing humanity a favour.Astroscale has raised $102M US to date for its business case which is to help in the removal of orbital debris through the provision of End of Life and Active Debris Removal services.The company isn’t going to clean all of the debris that plagues us today, but it is taking steps to build a company that could be positioned to make an impact on future debris and possibly existing debris.Astroscale was founded in 2013 by Nobu Okada, a tech entrepreneur with no experience in the space sector. He wanted to bring his start-up mentality to the space sector and address the problem of orbital space debris.The company is working to get its first mission, ELSA-d, consisting of two spacecraft, a Chaser (~150 kg) and a Target (~20 kg), launched by 2020. According to Astroscale "the chaser is equipped with proximity rendezvous technologies and a magnetic capture mechanism, while the target has a docking plate which enables it to be captured. The Chaser will repeatedly release and capture the Target in a series of technical demonstrations proving the capability to find and capture debris. Demonstrations include target search, target inspection, target rendezvous, and both non-tumbling and tumbling capture. ELSA-d is operated from the National In-orbit Servicing Control Centre Facility in Harwell, UK, which is being developed by Astroscale as a key part of the ground segment."My guest today to talk about Astroscale and its plans is Chris Blackerby, the Chief Operating Officer of Astroscale.

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Today’s podcast is a panel discussion from the recent Canadian Global Affairs Institute Ready for Launch, Preparing Canada for a Future in Space conference held in Ottawa.Officially the panel was called the Canadian Space Industry Leaders, but I’m calling it the Power Panel, as it featured David O’Connor of Magellan Aerospace, Mike Greenley of MDA, Marina Mississian of Honeywell and Dan Goldberg of Telesat. Indeed, a power panel representative of Canada’s largest space companies. Moderated by Charity Weeden, the panelists discussed the current state of the Canadian Space Program, what they think should be included in the next Space Strategy, and what they think of governments support. Magellan’s David O’Connor went as far as saying “our government has failed the country with the way its handled the space program.”

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Hi, I’m Marc Boucher and this is the SpaceQ podcast. My guest this week is Professor Chris Herd from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. We’re going to be talking about the Canadian Space Agency Space Exploration Workshop held in late 2016 and the subsequent lengthy report which was recently released.The report forms the basis of what Canada is likely to do in the next 10 years in space exploration.

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Hi, I’m Marc Boucher and this is a special episode of the SpaceQ podcast.This recording is from the Canadian Global Affairs Institute's Ready for Launch - Preparing Canada for a Future in Space conference, which was held in Ottawa on October 16, 2018.In this recording, a Fireside Chat: The New Space Age, the CBC’s Bob McDonald interviews Kenneth Hodgkins, the Director for the Office of space and Advanced Technology of the U.S. Department of State.In it, the discussion centers on the commercialization of space including how Canada is being considered an emerging launching state.Listen in.

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Hi, I’m Marc Boucher of SpaceQ and this is an episode of Short Takes. Short Takes are short interviews or short speeches with leaders in the space sector.This recording is from Friday, October 19, 2018 at the Montreal Space Symposium. In it Adam Trumpour announces the newly created Canada Rocket Innovation Challenge.Listen in.

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Hi, I’m Marc Boucher of SpaceQ and this is an episode of Short Takes. Short Takes are short interviews or short speeches with leaders in the space sector.Last week the Canadian Global Affairs Institute hosted a one day conference, Ready for Launch - Preparing Canada for a Future in Space.The title is ironic when you consider that Minister of Transportation Marc Garneau, a former astronaut and president of the Canadian Space Agency, openly stated that Canada has been a serious space player until now. Listen in.

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The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is a global network for students and young professionals looking to have a greater presence in Canada.Leading the charge are Zaid Rana, a systems engineer at Concordia University, and Chantelle Dubois, an engineering student at the University of Manitoba.In this weeks SpaceQ podcast we’ll be discussing what the SGAC is, what it does for students and young professionals globally, and what the organization is planning in Canada.Listen in.Link: https://spacegeneration.org/

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Hi, I’m Marc Boucher of SpaceQ and this is an episode of Short Takes. Short Takes are short interviews with leaders in the space sector.Earlier this week the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada announced a new initiative called Vision 2025: Beyond our Imagination. It is, in their words "an industry-led initiative to start a new dialogue between industry, government, the public, and other stakeholders that will chart a course for Canada’s future in the international aerospace sector.” Hired to lead this initiative is Jean Charest, a former federal Cabinet minister, Leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party, Québec Liberal Party leader and former premier of Quebec.SpaceQ had an opportunity to speak with Jim Quick, President and CEO of the AIAC, on this new initiative and the hiring of Mr. Charest.

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