(Ottawa) The company NorthStar Ciel et Terre, which aspires to make Montreal “the control tower of space”, intends to launch its first satellites within 12 months to carry out this ambitious project.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
In recent months, the Montreal company’s project has captured the interest of the United States, France, Luxembourg and Japan, among other countries, at a time when we are witnessing a marked increase in the number satellites launched into space each year. But the wait-and-see attitude shown by the Trudeau government towards it could prove to be a brake on its development.
The Legault government is also beginning to paw the ground with impatience at Ottawa’s slowness to make its intentions known, sources confirmed to The Press. Especially since Investissement Québec is one of the project’s partners. The main shareholder of the company is businessman Charles Sirois. The Rogers Company has also invested in the business.
As the countdown begins for the launch of the satellites, some of the interested countries are asking the same question: why has the Government of Canada still not indicated its interest? It could do so by entering into an agreement to be a future customer of the services that NorthStar Ciel et Terre intends to offer, as was done in the case of Telesat. A question to which the leaders of the company are struggling to offer an answer.
“The commercialization of space is a race that is already well underway. With the leadership of the Government of Canada, Montreal could become the control tower for space, to protect the billions of dollars in new space investments from Canada and its allies,” said Stewart Bain, CEO and co-founder of NorthStar Ciel. and Earth, in an email to The Press.
Congested orbits
In recent years, traffic in space has increased considerably. Currently, the equivalent of 1,000 new satellites are launched on average per year. This is almost 4 times more than the 260 satellites that were sent into space each year during the previous decade. To this must be added the debris of satellites that have collided with other objects in orbit.
Result: time is running out to ensure sound traffic management in space. “I think it’s important for the international community to agree on basic rules and standards of behavior in space. The challenge is that it takes so long and there is so much discussion. […] In my view, what needs to happen is that countries like the United States and our allies around the world […] must demonstrate their leadership now,” former NASA executive and former US Congressman Jim Bridenstine said in an interview posted Monday by SpaceWatch.global.
The urgency is such that the United Nations adopted a resolution to this effect last December. In this resolution, we said we were “deeply concerned about the fragility of the space environment”, and “in particular the impact of space debris”.
This file was also discussed at the last G7 Summit, held in June 2021 in Cornwall, Great Britain. “We recognize the importance of establishing common standards, best practices and guidelines to ensure the sustainability of space operations, as well as the need for concerted action in the management and coordination of space traffic,” said said in the final communiqué, signed by the leaders of the G7 countries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, claims to have given the company a financial boost. “Our government has supported NorthStar Ciel et Terre through the Strategic Innovation Fund to develop their technology. Now, while the company has made a change in its business plan and now wants to enter into supply and service contracts with the government, we are having confidential discussions on the business plan,” said the attaché. statement from the Minister, Laurie Bouchard.
Alerts before collisions
NorthStar plans to launch the first three satellites in a constellation that will grow to 24 satellites over the next 3 years as early as 2023. This set of satellites will be devoted entirely to tracking space objects.
The company entrusted Spire with the mandate to build and operate the first three satellites under the model space-as-a-service in order to ensure rapid commercial deployment of its system.
Thanks to this project, the owners of satellites will be able to be alerted in advance and with precision that a collision is possible between space objects. This will give them time to perform the necessary navigation maneuvers in order to avoid any collision while using certain applications.
Already, this type of service is in great demand at a time when the world economy is more dependent than ever on satellites. In their day-to-day lives, people also depend on it for things as simple as getting the weather forecast before leaving home, paying for a latte with a credit card at the local café, or tracking the route on its GPS to get to a restaurant in the evening. . These data are accessible thanks to the data provided by the satellites.
The Canadian Space Agency recognizes that the risk of collision between satellites and other orbiting craft or debris “continues to increase as more and more objects are launched into orbit by companies, universities and governments”.
“The Agency contributes to international space debris tracking and risk mitigation efforts. Regular satellite/space object tracking activities and collision avoidance maneuvers help to manage and reduce risks. More than 23,000 objects the size of softballs (over 10 cm in diameter) or larger are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in low Earth orbit by the United States Space Surveillance Network. »
But “smaller objects cannot be tracked due to the limited accuracy of various current sensors,” a shortcoming that NorthStar’s project could correct.
“The Canadian Space Agency takes the issue of space debris very seriously and is actively working with Canadian and international partners to find solutions to space debris management. These efforts are carried out in committees such as the Interagency Space Debris Coordinating Committee and the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,” it said.