In an increasingly dangerous world, space is becoming part of the global battlefield. So if Canada wants to protect the space assets it relies on, it needs to get serious about space defence.
That was the logical conclusion of the panel discussion ‘Innovation in Defence – Leveraging Commercial Space Capabilities’. It was presented at Space Bound 2024 on September 25, 2024 at Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Nature. Space Bound is the annual conference hosted by Space Canada, the national space industry association.
“We need to elevate the conversation on space in this country,” declared Mike Adamson, Telesat’s Senior Director of Defence Strategy and Business Development. “We need to elevate the conversation to the highest levels of government because Canadians need to understand their reliance on space to conduct all of their business every day. And they need to understand how important it is that we invest in our space companies in Canada.” It should be noted that Adamson has a lot of experience in this area as he recently joined Telesat after retiring from National Defence where he was Commander 3 Canadian Space Division/Joint Force Space Component Commander.
Investing in Canadian space companies is vital because nature abhors a vacuum. If Canada does not invest in this sector to ensure a sovereign space capability in this country, then non-Canadian companies will step in to fulfil market demands — and they may not have Canada’s interests at heart.
A case in point: “75% of Canada’s landmass isn’t covered by traditional mobile coverage. So you’ve got three quarters of our country completely devoid of that connectivity,” said Jason Trembley, Terrestar Solutions’ VP of Business Development. “That gap is being filled by foreign entities in a commercial space. Are we comfortable with the idea of three quarters of our land mass being covered entirely by foreign entities? I’m all for competition, but there needs to be a sort of sovereign strategy, a Canadian strategy.”
One way to fill the Canadian space defence gap is through government procurements and programs. For the federal government to succeed in its efforts, “we first need to ensure that we’ve got an open dialogue to make sure that the defence programs know about the industry,” said Valerie Travain-Milone, Calian’s President of Advanced Technologies, “so that they don’t talk about solutions before they know about the capabilities that we can bring.”
Another way for Canada to improve its space defence is through coordinated efforts channelled through the new National Space Council, which was announced in the 2024 Federal Budget. “Let’s remember what the purpose of a National Space Council is,” said Kevin Whale, MDA Space’s Senior Director of Space Strategy. “Its purpose is to bring a unity of thought, purpose, and action to everyone in this room. It’s not only the whole of the government, it’s the whole of the nation.”
This being said, the National Space Council can only take the lead in defending Canadian space if it truly pursues a ‘whole of nation’ approach. According to Whale, that’s the big question that needs to be answered. “How do we create an organization that is objective that can guide and to all of our efforts?” he asked. Because “That’s what the National Space Council needs to be.”
It should also be noted that Whale has a lot of experience is space defence as he also was with National Defence before joining MDA Space in August of 2022. At National Defence he was Director General Space/Joint Force Space Component Commander and preceded Adamson’s in the position.
- Read more coverage from the Space Bound 2024 conference.