Canada will boldly match the next-generation space station project?

Amit Chakma is the vice president and vice-chancellor of Western University

The Canadian community of space community, among others, are academics and business leaders who are currently in an urgent dialogue, allowing them to expand their Canadian choice of window, allowing leadership leadership in the development of global economic space, as well as in the next steps. space exploration

Lunar Gateway, a keynote speaker focus on NASA, is the international project coordinated by the NASA, thanks to the expansion of the solar system. In collaboration with public and private partners, Lunar Gateway will depict the design and construction of a small station that will orbit the moon over the next decade. Thereafter, astronauts should build and test systems for the exploration of space to conduct deep space experiments, to improve satellite communications and distance future missions.

Unlike Earth's far-off space around the 400-km long international space station, Lunar Gateway will have a moon of more than 400,000 kilometers. Such incidents will overcome the great scientific and technological challenges, especially in terms of robotics and artificial intelligence.

It is not surprising that multidisciplinary industry leaders and university researchers commit Lunar Gateway's scale and complexity as a definitive opportunity for their experience to become an exciting collaborative project that is truly global and potentially astronomical implications for economic benefits.

Canadians can have many reasons for Gateway projects, starting with a spectacular history of our 60-year history. We had a third country to launch a satellite orbit satellite (Alouette 1 in 1962); The first telecommunications satellite telecommunications operation (Anik 1972); and in 1982. he first established a live home broadcast service. The "Canadarm" used in Space Shuttle missions and the International Space Station has become an icon of national pride and icon of Canadian engineering. United States and Russia have sent Spanish astronauts more than in space in Canada.

However, while United States, European, Russian and Japanese space agencies become partners in Lunar Gateway, Canada's commitment remains a question mark on international engagement. In fact, over the past several years, Canadian space has dropped in space. As other space-faring countries have increased investments in space as a percentage of GDP, Canada has reached its eighth position since 1992, 18th in 2016, and our investments have not driven long-term plans for decades.

There are, however, signs of hope that help a more meaningful Canadian space strategy become more and more encouraged by some strong economic arguments. For example, Morgan Stanley recently announced that the revenue generated by global space space would increase the amount of 2040 billion euros in the US $ 380 million in the 2017 US market. The expected growth will be accelerated by the Earth's observation and communication satellite rapidly over the next 20 years, with applications for satellite imagery, remote sensing and global data in order to improve our quality of life and safety. .

Specification is also increasing in more traditional industries, such as mining, when making claims in the near future. Scientists would have a soccer-sized asteroid to have precious metals worth more than $ 50 million. NASA extracts data about around 18,000 orbit around Earth. The value of nearby celestial minerals can be US $ 700-quintillion. Understanding that science fiction is not the only thing, Luxembourg has financed US $ 225 million in 2016 by allowing space companies to buy a country store, aiming to become the world leader in mining in the space and start the prospecting of asteroids by 2020.

At the same time, it is important that investment in space exploration has had a positive impact on Canada's economy and Canadian welfare. Canadian experience for brain surgery NeuroArm development, the use of tools for Mars exploration for the mining industry, space exploration promotes innovation and promotes the limits of technological development.

On September 12, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Western University's physics and astronomy professor, Navdeep Bains, was the first Sarah Gallagher, the Canadian Science Advisor for the Space Agency. In its new role, Professor Gallagher will promote space science and will shape the future direction of space research. A week later, the Minister of Science and Sports, Kirsty Duncan, announced that raising awareness campaigns directed by the Natural Science and the Research Council of the Western Science Planetary Center for Science and Exploration, "Space Matters", which emphasizes the importance of space in Canada and how it touches on every aspect of everyday life .

These are the positive signals that potential leaders of our government leaders in Canada have. But the government needs to take some frightening steps that require huge investment. The stakes are very high and it's too late to allow Canada's next generation of explorers and entrepreneurs to make this place a safe place for the space economy. Canada and Lunar Gateway can be an important player in the project.