Chuck Black: September 2010 Archives

With conference season in full swing and SpaceRef Co-founder and Senior Editor Marc Boucher in Prague covering the 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC2010) all this week, it's time to take a quick look at some of the other space focused events, conferences and conventions coming up over the next little while.

Zombie satellite refuses to die; threatens Anik F3! Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Constellation program also refuses to die and continues to swallow whole the brains, money and other assets rightly belonging to others in the US space program but not Canadian government favorite Macdonald Detwiller (MDA) which just keeps going and going. All that and more, this week in space for Canada.

The Space Security Index (SSI) releases its seventh annual report just in time for the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) teleconference on space debris and traffic management. Meanwhile, completed Canadian components of the James Webb Space Telescope begin showing up at Goddard Space Flight Center for final testing and MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) Chief Executive Daniel Friedmann states that his company "hasn't always gotten a lot of love from its home government." All that and more, this week in space for Canada.

Com Dev International's CEO gets fired but shouldn't feel lonely since up to 5% of the firms labour force could be joining him on the unemployment lines due to ongoing problems with government satellite contracts. Meanwhile Carleton University sets up a Canada-India centre of excellence in science, technology, trade and policy and an ex-french paratrooper living in North Battleford plans to skydive from 120,000 feet. All that and more. this week in space for Canada.

Our Prime Minister again endorses RadarSat Constellation, then reminds us that he increased Canadian Space Agency (CSA) funding in March 2010 so funding delays are now "a thing of the past," just so long as nobody needs any cash until next year, which may or may not be good news for Com Dev International which warned investors on August 26th of continued cost-growth problems with US and Canadian government satellite contracts. Meanwhile, a posse of politicians make an "important" announcement regarding "a future space mission for a Canadian astronaut" that most of the rest of us likely already know about. All that and more, this week in space for Canada.