While not directly involved in these programs, I worked (later) at the Department of Communication where this and many other innovations for wired as well as wireless communications were conceived and built at the Communication Research Centre (CRC), a branch of the Department. I have seen satellites being assembled and/or tested for the rigors of space and rocket travel at the David Florida Lab part of the CRC.
At the time, the Government was willing to invest to develop new technologies and expertise and deploy them for the benefit of Canadians. These were things being studied were not commercially feasible, of interest or were too risky for the private sector but were in the interest of Canadians. There is a lot more that was done and many companies benefited directly or indirectly from the technologies and expertise coming out of the labs. Much of the new technology was always years ahead of practical deployment but over time, a lot of it percolated into Canadian products. For example, Canada developed the concept of a high altitude plane (SHARP) that would use electric motors powered by microwaves beamed from the ground that would fly in a pattern over a geographical point and act as a communication relay for regional communications.
Companies in Communication and Information Technology like Nortel, Mitel, Newbridge, RIM and many others that have now disappeared and like MDA and Telesat and others that are still in operation have been directly impacted by the technology and talent developed in Government labs.
SpaceX and Silicon Valley wouldn’t exist without government agencies, and as you mentioned many successful Canadian companies drew on government research. The Netherlands built its economy to a great extent through facing collective challenges and solving problems like flooding and food scarcity. They are now, tiny as they are, the second largest agricultural exporter in the world, and experts in water engineering and management. Mariana Mazzucato has done great work on this. She has written a series of books about it using government research projects and their commercial spin offs like Silicon Valley as exemplars.
If we take the Dutch example and consider what are our big challenges to solve knitting this vast sparsely populated space together has to be one of them.
As I read the article, my mind drifted to thoughts of the current satellite grouping Starlink. And then I thought, how advanced and prescient our government was to contrive, articulate and deliver on an idea that was both based on practicality but also the need to give voice to all Canadians. It’s giving voice to isolated communities that struck me more than the technological as impressive as it was. I believe that by reviewing our innovative past I am convinced that as a nation inspired by our history, a new generation of Canadians can develop, articulate and deliver on new and exciting ideas for the betterment of Canada and society as a whole. Thank you Mike for this excellent article. Cheers!
Thank you for a great article, Mike! We need to celebrate these space/communications achievements more and it is heartening to see MDA, Telesat Canada, Dominion Dynamics and others continue this legacy.
While not directly involved in these programs, I worked (later) at the Department of Communication where this and many other innovations for wired as well as wireless communications were conceived and built at the Communication Research Centre (CRC), a branch of the Department. I have seen satellites being assembled and/or tested for the rigors of space and rocket travel at the David Florida Lab part of the CRC.
At the time, the Government was willing to invest to develop new technologies and expertise and deploy them for the benefit of Canadians. These were things being studied were not commercially feasible, of interest or were too risky for the private sector but were in the interest of Canadians. There is a lot more that was done and many companies benefited directly or indirectly from the technologies and expertise coming out of the labs. Much of the new technology was always years ahead of practical deployment but over time, a lot of it percolated into Canadian products. For example, Canada developed the concept of a high altitude plane (SHARP) that would use electric motors powered by microwaves beamed from the ground that would fly in a pattern over a geographical point and act as a communication relay for regional communications.
Companies in Communication and Information Technology like Nortel, Mitel, Newbridge, RIM and many others that have now disappeared and like MDA and Telesat and others that are still in operation have been directly impacted by the technology and talent developed in Government labs.
Thanks for sharing your experience Luc!
SpaceX and Silicon Valley wouldn’t exist without government agencies, and as you mentioned many successful Canadian companies drew on government research. The Netherlands built its economy to a great extent through facing collective challenges and solving problems like flooding and food scarcity. They are now, tiny as they are, the second largest agricultural exporter in the world, and experts in water engineering and management. Mariana Mazzucato has done great work on this. She has written a series of books about it using government research projects and their commercial spin offs like Silicon Valley as exemplars.
https://marianamazzucato.substack.com/p/the-common-good-economy-a-new-compass?r=zsk0&utm_medium=ios
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
If we take the Dutch example and consider what are our big challenges to solve knitting this vast sparsely populated space together has to be one of them.
As I read the article, my mind drifted to thoughts of the current satellite grouping Starlink. And then I thought, how advanced and prescient our government was to contrive, articulate and deliver on an idea that was both based on practicality but also the need to give voice to all Canadians. It’s giving voice to isolated communities that struck me more than the technological as impressive as it was. I believe that by reviewing our innovative past I am convinced that as a nation inspired by our history, a new generation of Canadians can develop, articulate and deliver on new and exciting ideas for the betterment of Canada and society as a whole. Thank you Mike for this excellent article. Cheers!
And now we need to build our own launch capabilities. Thank you Mike for this blast from the past.
Impressive. Somewhat on the scale of the Railway for bringing Canada and Canadians together. Nation building stuff.
Thank you for a great article, Mike! We need to celebrate these space/communications achievements more and it is heartening to see MDA, Telesat Canada, Dominion Dynamics and others continue this legacy.