Space
For The Benefit of All
A consensual framework from Canada’s leaders to define Canada’s vision for a unique global contribution in developing the ‘Endless Ecology’ of Space
Space Exploration: the highest future
Space exploration has always been the “high frontier” -- the single most exhilarating and magnetic role that humankind has attempted. A defining moment for humankind’s perception of its place in the universe, for example, was the first, startling view of our planet from space: a marble of blue and white, unitary and fragile.
Space exploration had been a benchmark activity for billions. A nation’s mastery of space exploration and exploitation is the demonstration of its technological prowess. When the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting object, sputnik, the world snapped awake; suddenly, the Soviets were perceived as a super-nation. To claw back moral leadership, the American response was also space-centred, with the breathtaking goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Since then, space has increasingly become the global measure of technological competence and, in many ways, a benchmark for the superiority of rival social systems. Europe, India, China and Japan have recognized this, and have put in place space programs to demonstrate their technology prowess.
The Benefits of space exploration
There are clear benefits from the exploration of space, from the global level to national and commercial.
v The endless ecosystem: No matter how well we conserve, resources on earth are ultimately limited. With the continuing growth of the human population Whether humankind’s far future will involve population migration into space, the return of space resources to earth, or a combination of those alternatives, it is clear that space offers an alternative ‘endless ecosystem’ for human growth.
v Essential new paths to economic progress: Technologies developed for space exploration are critical to allow continuing economic growth on Earth. The developing nations cannot continue to copy the path to industrial progress pioneered by Western nations -- the planet cannot sustain the resource depletion and ecological impact. The technologies developed for space exploration are by nature ‘miserly’ in their consumption and use of resources; payload weight is expensive, so the technology evolves to ‘do most with least’. The path forward for developing nations and the global economy is to employ the new technologies developed from the progression of space exploration to the growth of the global economy.
v New technologies for conservation: Space technologies focus on recycling resources, which is key for a sustainable future. The need is urgent. Global fresh water use, for example, tripled in the past fifty years, as population doubled and the need for irrigation soared. Technologies developed for use in space stations can act as an exemplar for resolving many of these problems.
v National economic investment advantage: Many experts believe that space programs have contributed more than any other civilian program to securing technological and economic leadership.[1] Certainly, for the dollars invested, this would be true; NASA’s budget is only seven-tenths of one percent of the American Federal budget.
v National competitive advantage: The advanced technologies developed for space travel give companies an edge in global competition. From advances in foundation technologies like microelectronics or instrumentation to specific developments like digital imaging, cancer screening or water filtration, investments in space technologies leverage themselves many-fold in society and commerce.
Space exploration and development are essential to humanity’s future, and Canada needs to decide if we are going to be leaders in space or left behind.
Today’s Path: Canada in eclipse
Until very recently, Canada was a major contributor to the international effort to explore space.
Canada was in fact a pioneer in space exploration, with the world’s first domestic communications satellite, exemplary space robotics such as Canadarm and Dextre, and provision of technologies of choice for critical missions. In fact, the first equipment to touch the moon when Neil Armstrong made his historic flight -- he legs of the Lunar Lander -- were made in Canada.
Here is the height on which Canada stands, and from which it can easily fall:
“Space” is a wide-open business. Today, 50 years after the launch of Sputnik, there are more than 900 satellites in orbit around the earth, operated by more than 40 countries.
Aerospace is Canada’s leading advanced technology exporter, exporting nearly 80 per cent of its output. Canada’s aerospace industry comprises 400+ firms in every region of the country; collectively they employ 80,000 Canadians. In a dozen years, aerospace sales have more than doubled, now accounting for more than $22 billion. Canadian firms are global market leaders in regional aircraft, business jets, commercial helicopters, small gas turbine engines, flight simulation, landing gear, and space applications.
Today, however, threats are imminent…
There is an absence of clear or positive signals from government today that it supports Canadian involvement in the single most meaningful endeavour of humanity -- the exploration of space. The signs of trouble are clear:
v The Canadian Space Agency is moribund, with turnstile leadership, engineers in protest,
v Canada’s space funding is lagging. Our investment in space is the lowest among the G8 nations, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP. No other country has decreased its space funding as much as Canada.
v Key technology developed with taxpayer money is being sold to the U.S. companies, to allow them to get prepared by fostering economic growth. The most important is perhaps Dextre, the robot that will do much of the construction work on the International Space Station. Dextre was developed by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), which is in the process of being purchased by the American munitions-maker Alliant. MDA’s Radarsat-2, built with almost half-a-billion dollars of taxpayer money, would also go to Alliant. Radarsat-2 can pick up sharp landscape details through cloud cover. Commentators have pointed out that it could be critical for Canada’s claims to arctic sovereignty. Radarsat-2 marks the effective completion of Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station; there are no follow-on projects planned. There will now be pressure to support the decision by continuing to direct large contracts to the monopoly contractor, continuing the anti-competitive practices that stifle innovation in Canada. Our space policy should address this huge problem.
In a similar situation to Canada and MDA, would the American government let Lougheed- Martin be sold to another country?
v Our corps of trained space explorers is shrinking. Eight Canadian astronauts have flown on 13 shuttle flights. Dave Williams, who set Canada's record for spacewalks, floating in the cold vacuum for 17 hours and 47 minutes, retired suddenly from active astronaut status on March 1st, 2008. His very abrupt departure raises more questions about the stability of the space program. Industry Minister Prentice has announced that the current team of three astronauts are about to be joined by two new members, who will shortly be recruited. This still leaves the astronaut corps at its lowest level ever. But with the shuttle about to be mothballed in 2010, one wonders why we need more astronauts at all.
v Above all, Canada has no strategic vision of where it is going, or what Space exploration can mean for the country and our admirers around the world. Where, for example, is the plan that tells us why we need astronauts at all, and what they will do?
In a nutshell, the major problems today are that:
v Our 50-year involvement in space is closing down, as the Dextre program ends without a follow-on;
v Our budgets are frozen;
v No program of public awareness exists, outside the private sector;
v No policy exists to guide the ownership of companies that were grown from the investment of public funding
v We risk losing our share of the $200-billion global market in space activities
Where has our space vision gone? Where is the big vision?
The Canadian Vision
Improve the lives of people around the world, through Canadian leadership in researching and developing the ‘endless ecosystem’ of space.
Canada’s space vision must be broad enough to guide its strategic direction for decades to come, given that the cycle times of technology are often measured in decades. The vision must also be in harmony with the gestalt of space exploration itself -- to view the planet as a single borderless world among many, realizing that whatever fate befalls our neighbours on this planet, affects us as well.
The Canadian Strategy: Become a Nexus for International Partner-building
The defining characteristic of space exploration today is international partnering. All of the human spaceflight activities on the planning boards today are international. Canada’s chief claim to fame in the international community is its renowned record as a crystal for the formation of global alliances. From penning the original Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 through the invention of international peacekeeping in 1957 and to leadership in creating the Responsibility to Protect the Innocent in 2005, Canada has created a reputation as being the alliance-builder for peaceful international cooperation.
It is noteworthy from the examples below that it is possible to become the alliance-builder without a vast budget or a large population. It may help that Canada is in a sense the world in miniature – a country of ethnicities that coexist peacefully as a “global nation”. Our example can become an inspiration for other countries -- and for cooperation between countries. The key is moral leadership and a strategic plan.
In this regard, sustaining our role as the alliance-builder requires spearhead leadership in space exploration. No international activity is as unifying as space exploration. In contrast, Canada cannot play its leadership role as a multi-nationalist if we ourselves abandon our moral right by not participating in the high ground of science: space programs.
There are also economic benefits to Canada in becoming a nexus for international partner-making. There are two core advantages:
Program Shaper: Canada can lead in the formation of the Global Supply Chain; and
The Knowledge Edge: Canada will have a focus for obtaining enough knowledge of each partner, delivering a competitive edge to Canadian commerce.
These two points are illustrated below. The second point, the knowledge edge, comes from the case of the Joint Strike Fighter program, where Canadian companies gained huge benefits from being the bridge between project contractors.
1. The Global Supply Chain -- Today’s Business Frontier
Daryl McCoy, Director of MDS International, said that Global Supply Chains are important to his company at a very basic level: “They speak to an area that is the last frontier of pure bottom-line opportunity. A lot of time has been spent fine-tuning manufacturing processes etc, but the Supply Chain has not had this profile. Many companies still do not "get" the benefits. No matter what the sector, you can use this as the means to compete.”
For MDS, the advantage of going to a GSC is recognizing where the business values are and putting together a plan top move there. They recognize the opportunity and are driving to create a GCS.
The main reason why other companies have not yet driven towards a GSC, he indicated, is that the supply chains evolved from areas in companies like Procurement, where little corporate emphasis has been placed: “Few CEOs come from Procurement; it is not a particularly glamorous job. You need senior people now to make a GSC work. Procurement has always been associated with price, and if you have not been focused on price, you wouldn’t be aware of GSCs. So only the Procurement executives were aware of the development of the GSC. Now of course GSCs are also about service and the other elements of strategic advantage. This is the new challenge for executives -- seeing how they can use the GSC for advantages beyond price.
“The next big challenge will be to control the GSC. The idea is to develop your own GSC, and we will drive the development of our particular global chain. We know we will be the force. to keep it moving forward; it requires a leader. We will always be striving to keep the thought leadership in our GSC -- to keep our chain ahead by looking at the competitive changes and keeping our chain the best served GSC in the field.”
2. Doing It Right -- The Joint Strike Fighter Contract
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program provides a powerful example of what can be accomplished if the Government of Canada works together with industry to deliberately insert Canadian companies into Global Supply Chains.
The largest acquisition program in the history of the American Department of Defence, the F35 JSF has been compared in scale to the Manhatten Project. The F 35 is planned to be the sole combat aircraft the U.S. will purchase after 2013.
The Canadian aerospace industry approached Ottawa, asking the Federal Government to join the JSF program. Industry argued that the economic benefits of participation, beyond the anticipated sales from the JSF development phase, could bring them up to $10-billion when full production started. Canada officially joined the program in February 2002, taking part in the System Development & Demonstration phase, which is expected to last ten years. The Canadian funding of US$150-million came from a partnership of the Department of National Defence, Technology Partnerships Canada of Industry Canada, and the services of the Canadian Commercial Corporation.
By entering the JSF project, Canada’s industries gained immediate access to some of the world’s largest Global Supply Chains, and global markets. The F 35 would be sold to customers from around the world. Global companies are involved: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce. Participation involved small companies as well as large; a consulting company called Edwater Computer Systems, for example, has used its work on the JSF to launch into full-scale research and development. According to Pierre Lagueux, Senior Partner at CFN Consultants, getting involved in the JSF program was imperative: “Instead of just being a buyer of the fighter later, you can get involved with the airplane from the ground floor up, and reap the benefits for your industry. You ensure that Canadian industry does not lose out on the development of new technology.”
Nothing was guaranteed for Canadian industry in the project --- it had to earn its way into contracts. While the Americans recognize that participating nations are looking for a return to their own industry, they don't believe in offsets per se. “Opportunities to participate exist, but it is not a given!” said Mr. Lagueux. “You have to earn your way in, with cost-effective, unique technologies and services. It is very competitive. And we are happy to report that Canadian industry is punching way above its weight on this -- we have captured a large proportion of the contracts vis a vis our financial contributions. We have been so successful, that other nations are coming to Canada to find out how we did it. We have an opportunity to act as a hub for other nations’ Global Supply Chains, to lead them in how to get close to our American neighbours. The DND has also been very focused on making sure that our industries are aware of the opportunities -- the deliverables that the Americans are looking for. Canadian Government officials have been very proactive in going out to the industries and specifying the stages of opportunities. They have also been connecting businesses with each other. This is a global lesson for Canada: most large industries today have Global Supply Chains, especially in high-tech sectors like electronics. While we have to continually work on our GSC issues like management and logistics, we have shown that we can compete in this mandatory practice of Global Supply Chains”.
These twin strategies, building out from the Vision of improving the lives of people around the world, can be achieved if Canada follows a focused set of tactics.
Our tactical recommendations for the achievement of the Canadian Vision are:
Have Government acknowledge its commitment to Big Vision space programs, both as the key to high-tech development in a $200-billion export-focused activity, and as a platform for Canada’s international reputation.
In embracing the biggest vision of space program involvement, the benchmark for adequacy must be the realization that after people landed on the Moon, everything else must exceed that program. Canada’s focus should be ‘Mars and beyond”.
Commitment must be expressed in terms of guarantees for two decades at the minimum. Science budgets have a human side, and a continual fluctuation in funding means the constant disbanding and re-forming of teams of dedicated people -- people who are in premium demand by Canadian rivals around the world.
Recognize that first-class scientific research is essential for leadership in the Vision, to establish the credibility Canada needs in order to become an international nexus.
Canada’s greatest potential for expanding the world’s capabilities in space come from science-based exploration, including manned space missions, where Canada can play a leadership role. Canada should aim to capture the mind, through the excitement of new discoveries. In exploring Mars and Beyond, it should be recognized that for the coming decade, humans are not the tool of choice for exploration.
Commit to providing sufficient resources to ensure Canadian participation at a meaningful level in all major international space programs, exploiting the fact that Canada is welcomed by all countries.
Establish Regional Space Centers
Regional space centers can provide a focus for collaboration among Canadians in regions across the country, increasing access to major Canadian space projects. We can increase participation in space activities by devolving responsibilities for technology development to local centers. Collaboration among centers leads to new, coordinated capabilities to mount significant space missions.
Actions:
· Invest in a network of regional space centers of excellence.
Rise of the Prize
Prizes for achievements in space stimulate our competitive edge, which drives our economy forwards. As demonstrated by the X-Prize, rewards for innovation spur competition and enthusiasm among our most highly qualified workforce. A prize also focuses intense economic activity on a defined objective. The technology developments resulting from these activities exceed in worth many times the award. Technology spin-offs compound the benefits to Canadians with wide-ranging applications in our day-to-day lives.
Actions:
· Government to offer prizes for successful Canadian space endeavours.
· Reward enterprises that return scientific data valuable to the Canadian public and our knowledge-based economy.
Move Government R&D to Universities and Industry
Research and development are best conducted in the academic and industrial environments. China’s recent space achievements are fuelled by central investment in university labs at a level orders of magnitude greater than that in Canada. Re-location of government research labs to universities and the commercial sector is a cost-effective means to manage our world-class research and create new opportunities for innovation.
Actions:
· Spin off government-run commercial laboratories as independent commercial operations.
· Relocate government labs to universities and industry.
Diversify Government Customers
A free and competitive market spurs innovation and technological advance and is essential to Canada’s future in space. The current centralization of space procurement in Canada has led to a monopoly situation that inhibits sector growth. Diversification of the government customer allows departments and agencies to procure directly space products and services relevant to their mandate. An increased customer base enhances competition and provides a natural progression away from sole-source procurement, creating new opportunities for Canada’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Actions:
· End direct contracting to monopoly suppliers.
· Facilitate procurement of space products and services by multiple government buyers.
· Restructure CSA to emulate successful British National Space Center (BNSC).
Put in place a nationally coordinated program to act as the communications bridge between the international programs, with the objective of becoming known as the helpful “go to” advisor by all countries, in order to place Canada at the nexus of space development.
In developing a strategic science agenda, Canada can provide other nations with guidance on the ‘best practice’ in aligning science with the national agenda.
Transfer advanced Canadian technology to developing nations, to allow them to grow using new technology that does not draw as much on the unsustainable resources of the planet.
Canadian achievements in space exploration are communicated to Canadian youth through an Advocacy Council, to engage and inspire the next generation of visionaries and activists.
The national agenda in the case of space exploration is meant to encompass both commercial advantage and social benefits such as role-setting for Canadian youth, using space exploration as the high motivator for education and academic research. The development of the strategy should include mechanisms that recognize that science is a fluid process, through the establishment of online tools and organizational structures for continuing adjustment of strategy. Further, the strategic plan should have a “hard point” -- it should have a designated executive responsible for outcomes, much like the very successful Joint strike Fighter program.
Copy the Joint Strike Fighter program involvement, creating a champion to ensure Canada’s successful exploitation of its expertise
Establish a balance in the support of space programs, encouraging the trend today towards more involvement by the private sector.
Today, space exploration has entered a new era -- a second fevered pitch of excitement. It might almost be likened to “Space 2.0”: the resumption of the momentum that first appeared in the race to the moon in the 1960’s. Today, we are seeing a burst of space activities by countries vying for consideration as ‘masters of technology’.
The new element in ‘Space 2.0’, is the emergence of the private sector as a major initiator of missions and hard science. By way of example, Northern Light is being developed by more than 50 scientists in a dozen of Canada’s top universities. The Northern Light consortium is being led by Thoth Technology, who takes overall responsibility for the system. Thoth Technology will coordinate with government, academia and industry to provide system and instrument specifications, mission planning and mission management, including the directing of contractors and quality-control assurance. Thoth Technology will provide support for all phases of the Northern Light mission. Thoth Technology is co-ordinating a strong team of Canadian industries to build subsystems and components for Northern Light. These experienced manufacturers of spacecraft systems will be responsible for developing required space-qualified hardware according to recognized international specifications and standards.
Rise of Private Sector Involvement
The traditional perspective is that the Space Sector is a difficult market that needs government support. Indeed, government policy to create and support monopolies thwarts innovation and does not even benefit the monopoly as recent events indicate. Many experts contend that innovation today has taken place primarily in the private sector.
Regardless of the debate over the merits of public versus private support, there has been a definite trend towards an increase in private sector participation:
Private-sector-led space tourism is expected to be launching 100,000 passengers a year on suborbital thrill rides by 2020 [Burt Rutan]
NASA’s approval of the $500 million Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program represents a breakthrough in NASA thinking about space operations because it offers the private sector a chance to do what only Russia does now: re-supply the International Space Station.
Companies such as Bigelow Aerospace are planning on investing billions in space station and space launch facilities in the coming few years.
This millennium vision for Canadian space activity is a consensus starter, bringing together the views of many of Canada’s leaders in space research and industrial activity. They have agreed on the following principles as a strategy-defining ‘manifesto’ and call to action. We welcome input and comment from the public, the public sector, academia and business.
[1] http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/advantages-of-space-exploration-include-2007-10-03.html
