In a 2020 report, the Canadian government reported that "In 2019, the space sector supported a total of 22,879 jobs in Canada" That breaks down to
- 10,541 space sector jobs,
- 6,482 supply industry jobs, and
- 5,856 jobs from consumer spending by associated employees.
That amounts to only 10,541 FTEs (full time equivalents) "insiders", and 12,338 as "associated". With ~38 million Canadians, that means the whole sector accounts for 0.06% of Canadian population and insiders for only 0.027%. While the report noted that western provinces were growing their workforce at ~10% per year, Ontario & Quebec continue to dominate where companies locate.
What does that mean for the future of the CanadianSpace sector? Most Canadians I meet in the west know about SpaceX and NASA, but can't name a single Canadian space company or one thing the CSA does. This is sad because the CSA has estimated that for every \(1 invested into the space sector,\)2.50 of benefit to the economy is generated. The important work happening remains beyond consciousness and disconnected from daily life.
All the excitement in the press not withstanding, the sector is far from self-sustaining. Remove government sources of funding, private funding, and/or public support and the entire sector would disappear virtually over night. Such a risk represents an existential threat to the sector.
Building Depth
The sector must build much more depth by integrating more deeply into the Canadian economy. It must provide visible value to the Canadian economy. Its most visible efforts up to today are in communications and navigation. From radio and tv to cellphones and internet to GPS, Canadians use satellites all the time, mostly without even realizing it. Companies in this sector include Kepler Communications (improving data transmission from satellites), Spacebridge (satellite communication delivered outside urban areas), and Telesat.
Earth Observation & Satellites
Earth observation (EO) is the most obvious and immediately profitable path for the future, but even there, as SkyWatch CEO points out, the race towards commoditization is advancing quickly. Satellite operators can expect less profit and more competition going forward. The advantages of EO are already obvious in banking, insurance, defence, agriculture and forestry. With this context, the work of SkyWatch, in developing both a marketplace for satellite insights and imagery and platform services for satellite operators, is extremely important. The two-sided market is a sophisticated application of business ideas.
4pi Lab is another example of the innovation in EO, where with a small budget, they look set to greatly reduce the annual losses suffered from wildfires. Their first satellite launches in 2023 and is expected to reduce wildfire destruction 30% and save 170,000 hectares in Canada alone.
Getting off the Ground
Nova Scotia's new spaceport (Maritime Launch Services) is another way of bringing money into the economy. Launch providers from around the world are already lining up to use the facilities still under construction. When they come, they'll use local supports from hotels to shippers. To make this progress, the company has created amazing relationships into industry and government, yet many hurdles remain.
Once the spaceport is functional, launch companies like C6 Launch System Inc (currently launching from Brazil), Reaction Dynamics and SpaceRyde (currently developing their first orbital rockets) will be able to launch domestically.
Going Digital
Other obvious places to build more linkages into the economy are in manufacturing of hardware and digital services like data science, and applying the lessons of space to Canadians with the remote delivery of health services. Companies like Metaspectral (applying AI to images to reduces the cost of storage and transmission), SpaceAlpha Insights (innovative synthetic apeture radar applications), Wyvern (experimenting with onboard hyperspectral image processing) are all racing to lead Canada into this future.
Health & Wellness
Finally, the research and development going into understanding human health in space has direct application to the Canadian context. Our rural and remote communities benefit directly from better delivery of virtual health. HealthTech Connex technology and techniques improve cognitive functioning and Luxsonic Technologies Inc. improves diagnostics and training.
Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash