Ottawa Eyes Funding Cape Breton Space Venture

Sources said Lockheed Martin's proposed list of investments, which was submitted to Industry Canada and is awaiting cabinet approval, includes a promise to spend $45-million over six years on PlanetSpace's project. According to its website, PlanetSpace wants to send 2,000 people into suborbital space flights over five years, even though the company has not started accepting reservations for the $250,000 trips. The company has estimated it will cost about $150-million to build a launch pad and rocket on its site in Nova Scotia. It's not clear how much money the company already has or where its funding comes from. "There have only been about 450 astronauts in the history of man. PlanetSpace astronauts will be among the first civilians to make the voyage to space," the company's website said. The $45-million investment in PlanetSpace would not be a federal subsidy, but it would be the direct result of federal approval of Lockheed Martin's mandatory plan to provide regional benefits from the aircraft sale. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071026.wspace26/BNStory/National/home

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