Canada Needs Space Industry

A U.S. space specialist says if the sale of Canada's largest space firm goes ahead, Canada will be one of the few developed nations in the world that doesn't have its own domestic capability in that highly strategic industrial area.

Theresa Hitchens, of the Washington-based Centre for Defence Information, said for its future economic growth and its place at the international table, Canada needs not only a national space strategy, but its own industry supported, in part, by government.

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates of Richmond, B.C., the country's premier space firm, is being sold to the U.S. company, Alliant Techsystems of Minnesota. The federal government has not yet decided whether to approve the $1.325-billion sale.

MDA owns the Canadarm space technology and has developed the new robot arm, Dextre, which is now in orbit and is being put together by an American shuttle crew.

MDA also built the recently launched Radarsat-2 satellite, a $524-million spacecraft that will provide images for the forest and mining industries, among others, and allow the federal government to keep watch over Canada's Arctic territories. Although taxpayers financed most of Radarsat-2's cost, the federal government signed a deal that gives MDA ownership of the satellite.

Ms. Hitchens, author of Future Security In Space: Charting a Co-operative Course, said the proposed sale of MDA makes sense for its shareholders since the company needs to continue to earn more profits. But she said she is surprised the Canadian government has not intervened in the situation, adding that most nations provide a level of support to their own space companies.

Although there are smaller space firms in Canada, MDA is considered the only one capable of shepherding a major project from start to finish.

Ms. Hitchens said Canada has a worldwide reputation for taking on niche space projects and a small but effective domestic industry.

"Brazil has a space industry," said Ms. Hitchens. "Malaysia has one. Having space assets is good for your economic growth, and then there are military applications.

"I don't know another country that doesn't support (a domestic space industry)," she added. "Maybe Belgium. But Canada is a lot bigger country than Belgium."

Officials with Alliant Techsystems and MDA aren't commenting on the sale. But representatives from both firms have previously said the deal will be good for Canada and that it will mean MDA will have access to new markets in the U.S. MDA shareholders have also endorsed the deal.

In previous interviews, MDA officials have said they could not make substantial inroads into the U.S. space market to drum up work to be profitable enough.

Opposition to the sale, however, has crossed political boundaries. Conservative MP Art Hanger has questioned the deal, while MPs from the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois have also raised concerns.

Former employees of the Canadian Space Agency, defence analysts and some current and former employees of MDA have all come out against the deal, saying it should be halted.

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