At the Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, Global Affairs Canada provided an update on their review and analysis of the two independent reviews (2012, 2017) of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. As some of you may recall SpaceQ had an exclusive story on the second review which was published in April 2017.
The Remote Sensing Space Systems Act (RSSSA) was enacted in 2005 and is the responsibility of the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) department. Although the Act is specific in its application, it has been used essentially as Canada’s general outer space law and is in need of an update.
We’ve covered the RSSSA since 2017 and you
can browse our archives of detailed articles.
Recognizing that fact, GAC has begun a review of the Act and in this update outlined what steps it is currently considering.
Modernizing the RSSSA
According to GAC this is what they’ve done to date:
- Review and Analysis of the two reports
- Review all recommendations from the two independent reviews
- Considering changes/adaptations on the Act (long process), Regulations (moderate process), Client Procedural Circular (relatively short process)
- Creation of a Client Procedural Circular (CPC)
I should note that while GAC and the independent review used the terminology “Client Procedural Circular,” the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada department (ISED) uses “Client Procedures Circular.” It may seem like an inconsequential difference until you Google it or visit the ISED Client Procedures Circular archives.
GAC also created a 15 member independent ad hoc review committee which includes “experts and operators from Canadian industry, universities, government as well as international/experts.” The committee has met six times since November 2019.
SpaceQ contacted GAC to find out who the committee members were. GAC did acknowledge our request, but did not respond within the publishing deadline we provided them. As soon as we hear from them we’ll update this story.
Also part of their modernization process GAC has “re-instated the inspection program to audit all licenses over a certain period.” They are also considering the creation of “Class exemptions (pre-approved exemptions).
SpaceQ also asked GAC when the Client Procedures Circular, which is under development, would be released. Once again, we did not hear back before our publishing deadline.