Montreal Space Symposium

In recent years, decadal surveys regularly administered by NASA and the US Congress have been used to forecast key priorities for scientific missions. The preceding National Research Council’s Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010) designated the WFIRST mission as the top priority from the scientific community, echoed by the Canadian astronomy community as well. Canada recently retracted from its commitment to this major international space project due to a lack of funding for space programs.

When solicited for interest in participation, Canada gets on board but then lacks the sustainability at a transitional point of commitment. Such endeavors are not only critical to space exploration, but also for the development of an inter-generational workforce and the scholarly advancements in space astronomy (for which the country is renowned for). The lack of a mechanism to ensure a firm engagement when a project is finally greenlit demonstrates an institutional void: the Canadian space program simply cannot rely solely on ad hoc measures and yearly budget allocations. As a result, Canada had to renege on its potential contributions to the WFIRST mission, which subsequently led to repercussions on multiple fronts. Canada would have provided key instruments that now have to be descoped from the project. Furthermore, Canada has already invested in Phase 0 studies for these technologies, roughly $3.1-million. The considerable expertise development and possible “HQP-drain” are equally important losses.

A support infrastructure to foster future collaborations requires a firm acknowledgement from the government, both financially and institutionally. This is highly prevalent as NASA steers its focus to a cislunar station with its international partners, including the CSA. There may be a future where Canada is no longer a central player at the table of major space faring nations and may even lose out on future economic outputs of the space industry. The steady retraction of Canada’s involvement in international space missions is in stark opposition to the spirit of the nation’s space pioneers, who held grand visions for the country’s role in shaping humankind’s frontier in space. Moreover, Canada stands to lose its prominence in the G7 group and its heritage as well: the third country in Space, after the Soviet Union and the US. There remains an important impetus on all members of the industry to highlight the comprehensive benefits of space exploration and its multi-dimensionality; in other words, its benefits to the economy, to Canadians and to Canada’s standing internationally.

Panel as part of the track entitled "SGAC: #NextGen Canada" - Developed by the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).