The Canadian Space Agency has awarded $2.4 million to three Canadian companies tasked with developing the ground systems that will control the country’s next generation of satellites.
The news: The agency announced on Thursday that Brampton-based MDA Space, Ottawa-based Calian, and Toronto-based Kepler were each awarded $804,000 contracts to develop ground-segment concept studies for RADARSAT+, Canada’s next-generation satellite system.
Ground segments are the Earth-based satellite control and data management systems. With these contracts, the companies are expected to deliver concepts for a modern, flexible ground system. They must also deliver a plan to develop and implement the system and an overview of its key technologies.
From the source: “These investments support a next-generation satellite system that reinforces Canada’s space sector as a sovereign capability and reflects our broader efforts to strengthen Canada’s defence industrial capacity, while driving innovation across our space sector,” Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement.
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Following the thread: The Government of Canada allocated just over $1 billion in 2023 to support the country’s Earth observation satellite needs. The data is used for everything from monitoring illegal fishing activities to assisting disaster relief efforts.
MDA Space and Kepler are already part of the project’s space segment. Alongside C-CORE, in December they were awarded $747,000 each to deliver concepts for a new satellite. MDA was also awarded nearly $45 million to purchase specialized parts for the job.
Final thought: Canadian firms have been benefitting from the country’s renewed interest in space, particularly after the launch of the Defence Industrial Strategy, which named the domain one of Canada’s key sovereign capabilities. Under that strategy, the government recently committed $225 million to build out Canada’s ability to send its own rockets into space. Kepler CEO Mina Mitry told BetaKit in April that the country’s enormous land mass makes space the only credible vantage point to monitor all of it.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Image by SpaceX.