Canadian Space Agency and industry see opportunity to build on niche expertise

New funding required

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is seeking a one-time budget increase to help it engage in innovative new ventures and assume an enhanced leadership role for the embattled domestic space industry. It is preparing a memorandum to Cabinet (MC) for consideration in the next Budget, and it’s getting support from the industry which is hoping to convince government to become an early market adopter of new space technologies and complete high-speed broadband availability across the country.

The new funding request comes as the CSA adjusts to the new leadership style of Dr Marc Garneau, who assumed the CSA mantle 11 months ago. Under Garneau, the CSA is developing a new strategic plan — formerly known as the long-term space plan before the Agency secured stable, A-base funding in 1999 — to position itself as a logical beneficiary of new initiatives stemming from the federal innovation strategy. Since then the CSA’s annual budget has been capped at about $300 million, with an additional $140 million over three years to allow for participation in the international space station and Radarsat II.

In contrast to former CSA president Mac Evans, Garneau is known for making fast, decisive decisions and is a major promoter of human presence in space. The emphasis on manned space flight is at odds with many in industry who contend that a small player like Canada should focus more on niche development and applications.

“We are always in a state of low-level tension between the various stakeholders,” says Garneau. “Human presence in space represents 20% of our budget and the great majority of our funding ends up in industry although some in industry may want to alter that balance.”

Regardless of their differences, the CSA and the space sector are working to develop a cohesive national strategy. While the CSA develops its strategic plan and seeks new funding, the industry has unveiled the basis of its own plan, which will be released next year. In the meantime it has outlined a number of short-, medium- and long-term objectives stretching to 2011 (see chart).

The industry’s submission to the innovation agenda paints a picture of an industry that’s hanging tough despite a number of serious challenges to its future growth and viability. The downturn in the telecommunications sector, Canada’s paucity of spending on military technologies and the sector’s relatively small size have conspired to limit growth and stifle innovative capacity.

“Most companies have been downsizing and seen the marketplace disappear and in Canada 85-95% of our business is commercial,” says Paul Bush VP corporate development of Telesat Canada (a division of BCE Inc). “The US and Europe have been weathering the storm because of military usage, and Canadian companies that are still around are here because they have been extremely innovative in carving out niches in the world market.”

In order to offset the military advantage of larger countries, Bush says the domestic space industry must collaborate and establish a so-called national team with regional strengths that include government and university partners.

“Rather than clusters in a specific area, if Canada is to maintain a role in space, we have to look at it on a national basis. There’s not a lot of competition within niches so we’re able to work together. We’re now in discussions and there’s a good understanding of the challenges. Now we have to come up with directions we can agree to.”

One of the most significant challenges to the space sector is the 1999 decision by the US government to withdraw Canada’s exemption to ITAR — the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Although some revisions pertaining to Canada were made last year, the impact of the current situation is considered to be a severe obstacle to the industry’s future growth in its largest export market.

The submission to the innovation agenda also laments Canada’s lack of champions, and proposes a “different kind of partnership model”. It calls for a long-term plan involving key user departments and the leadership from the CSA — a challenge Garneau says his Agency is eager to confront.

“Our mandate is to promote the social and economic development of Canada and we can do that by by fostering a competitive space industry,” he says. “We have taken a very strategic approach in Canada and the government has strategic reasons for how our niches are developed.”

Garneau says that while industry’s concerns are forefront in all decisions made at the CSA, the Agency must be responsive to its other stakeholders, namely government, the scientific community and the public. In the area of government, the CSA was recently asked to consult with 19 departments to determine how it can support their mandates. The result was a flood of interest in areas such as parks, fisheries and emergency preparedness — sectors that aren’t considered to have a strong interest in space technologies.

“We were overwhelmed with interest. We are now telling government we have elicited interest from many non-traditional quarters,” says Garneau. “We want to do exploratory work and initial R&D over the next two years to see what is practical and feasible,” says Garneau.

With so much potential in so many quarters, budget constraints are becoming an increasing liability. Both Garneau and Telesat’s Paul Bush agree that government must be convinced to dedicate new funds to ensure future viability.

“The issue is money. The CSA budget has been cut and its ability to fund innovative ventures has been limited,” says Bush. “We’ve got to find better funding mechanisms. The industry has tremendous technologies but they have to be used more and used earlier.”

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