2019-20 Departmental Results Report

Result 1 — Space research and development advances science and technology

Fostering growth in a vibrant Canadian economy, an ecosystem that supports the full research and development cycle from inception through to commercialization is of critically important now more than ever. In recognition of this, the CSA continues to invest in the advancement of technology readiness levels and risk-reduction efforts for innovative space technologies required for future space missions with the possibility of being re-purposed on earth. Below are some of the areas in which the CSA's investments in 2019–20 have demonstrated leadership in fostering an innovative environment.

The CSA launched another wave of the STDP with an investment totaling $18M over three years in space technologies such as a Miniaturized Radiation Spectrometer, a Dual manipulator controller with virtual reality, a Breadboard spectrometer for climate observation, and Antenna Technologies for Mars Subsurface Radar. Through the STDP, the CSA also invested a similar amount of $18.8M to support the advancement of 55 commercially promising technologies in various space domains, such as a hazard avoidance navigation system for landers, and 45 activities to reduce the technological uncertainties of potential future missions of interest to Canada.

The STDP also contributed to LEAP by supporting the development of 10 space technologies related to lunar missions as well as by implementing a mechanism to support promising technologies with a strong commercial potential for the Lunar supply chain. In addition, the CSA has collaborated with the National Research Council (NRC) in ISED's Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) on industry challenges to foster Small and Medium Business (SMB) involvement in the eventual Canadarm3 supply chain.

As part of the Lunar Gateway, the CSA invested $6.7M in 2019–20. These investments encourage Canadian industry to invest in R&D to produce the next advancements in technology, mainly in space robotics, machine vision, and artificial intelligence (AI), needed to operate the Lunar Gateway for the mission's first 20 years. It is expected that the R&D expenditures made by businesses will lead to technical innovation thus providing significant social and economic benefits to Canada. The CSA has established its procurement strategy for Canadarm3, which will include the first use of the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy (ITB) outside of military procurement. This will allow the use of proven means and controls to best meet key project objectives, while maximizing benefits to Canada. The use of ITBs will drive technical innovation within Canada's space industry, engaging and growing small and medium enterprises, and sponsoring partnerships and R&D opportunity across Canadian academia, robotics ecosystem (space and terrestrial), and emerging fields such as AI where Canada has demonstrated leadership. The CSA has worked with NASA and other international partners on the concept definition for Canadarm3 and provided initial mission-level technical requirements to guide industry, and defined detailed technical requirements for the robotic interfaces that will support Canadarm3 and its payloads.

Planetary exploration and space astronomy missions provide opportunities for Canadian scientists to embark on international space missions and gain access to scientific data. In 2019–20, the CSA invested $2.6M in Canadian science teams participating in scientific space missions, including NASA's Curiosity rover mission, the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission, India's ASTROSAT mission, and Japan's X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission XRISM. These projects and others have generated 66 peer-reviewed and 164 non peer-reviewed scientific publications by Canadian space researchers in 2019–20.

In support of advancing space, as well as Earth science and technologies, the CSA invested $2.2M to maintain the operations and data production of Canada's SCISAT science satellite. This investment supported the upgrade of the mission's IT server system, to secure resources for data calibration and validation, and to analyze instrument performance to increase the quality of data products. Its dataset, spanning 16 years, continues to be used to monitor stratospheric ozone depletion to advise future regulations of the United Nations (UN) Montreal Protocol. SCISAT's data was also highlighted in over 10 scientific publications as part of a special issue of the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy, honouring the 15th anniversary of the SCISAT satellite. Among the featured scientific advances was one describing the satellite's new hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) dataset, making it the only satellite in the world to measure them from space. In addition, SCISAT's greenhouse gas and air quality data, used to further Canada's contribution to Arctic research and data from onboard instruments, was published in a UN/World Climate Research Program water vapour assessment. This contributes to Canada's existing leadership in high-resolution measurements of the atmosphere and advancing global research in greenhouse gases. Open data from SCISAT was also featured as part of Canada's participation in the 2019 NASA Space Apps Challenge.

The growing reliance on secure telecommunications for Canadians' daily activities, such as online banking, is supported by CSA's investments in projects such as the QEYSSat demonstration mission. In 2019–20, the CSA selected its prime contractor to design and build the QEYSSat, as well as initiate the preliminary design phase. The mission aims to demonstrate quantum key distribution technology over very long distances and is expected to provide Canada with ultra-secure communications in the age of quantum computing.

Through these investments, the CSA contributed to Canada maintaining its Business Expenditures on Research and Development (BERD) in the space sector. In 2018 (the most recent data available), BERD reached $356M, which is much higher than the expected target of $250M. This variance is due to the CSA using a five-year rolling average to set the target based on the fluctuations of the Canadian space sector over time as missions proceed through their lifecycles. Another factor in this variance is the presence of a company, which recently entered the Canadian space sector, that has reported significant BERD in the past two years. In response to the evolving reality, a new target has been developed for the 2020-21 Departmental plan (PDF, 350 KB) to account for changes in industry. Furthermore, by providing access to high-quality scientific data and supporting researchers, the CSA contributed to Canada's 16th rank among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations with regard to the average relative citation score of space-related publications. Canada's average relative citation (ARC) score, ranking it 16th among OECD countries, corresponds to a value of 1.59 for the period from 2012 to 2018, compared with 1.62 for the previous period from 2012 to 2017, or 11th rank. The gap between these two periods must be interpreted carefully given the gap separating Canada from the country holding the 10th rank is less than 0.10 ARC points, which is not statistically significant. It should also be noted that with this score, Canada is above average among OECD countries and scores the highest among G7 countries.

Result 2 — Canadians engage with space

By taking advantage of the unique ability of space to inspire Canadians of all ages and by providing opportunities for youth to acquire the skills to pursue studies and careers in STEM, in 2019–20 the CSA engaged with Canadians of all ages through communications events and campaigns, notably with the astronaut David Saint-Jacques' mission outreach campaign.

Social media engagements for 2019–20 were 3,592,089 on CSA's social media platforms, on all space topics combined. The increase compared with previous years is explained by the astronaut mission which generated increased content and therefore more engagements.

The results for the astronaut mission were exceptional. From October 2017 to July 2019, the campaign generated over 6 million engagements on social media, 16 million views of videos, 2.5 million visits to mission webpages, and nearly 7,000 media mentions. Mission related outreach activities reached over 227 thousand Canadians directly. Of these, at least 105 thousand were youth (primary-secondary). The Living Space initiative alone reached over 88,000 students in nearly 4,000 classrooms across Canada.

Announced by the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau in February 2019, the CSA launched its Junior Astronauts activities related to STEM, Fitness & Nutrition, and Teamwork & Communications for educators and youth in grades 6 to 9. Registered participants were invited to take part in two nationwide contests. The prize of one was to win a visit from an astronaut in the spring of 2020, and the other to be invited to the Junior Astronaut Camp where winners would engage and train with CSA scientists, engineers, and astronauts at the CSA headquarters in the summer of 2020. By the end of 2019–20, the Junior Astronaut campaign had over 58,000 engagements with youth, and 1,549 schools and youth organizations from every province and territory registered in the activities.

The CSA continued to engage Canadians by supporting the development of space science and technology and expertise required for the future through the Science, Technology and Expertise Development in Academia (STEDiA) initiative. In 2019–2020, STEDiA supported 99 activities such as the Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST).

As part of the CSA's stratospheric balloon program, the Strato-Science 2019 campaign provided Canadian academia and industry with an opportunity to test and validate new technologies and perform scientific experiments in a near-space environment, while inspiring and training the next generation of experts. Thirteen payloads, involving more than 80 students, were launched with great success.

The CSA also supported the Canadian CubeSat Project which provides professors in post-secondary institutions with an opportunity to engage their students in a real space mission by designing, building, testing, and operating their own miniature satellite. In May 2019, a one-week hands-on workshop was organized at CSA's headquarters and offered to more than 45 students from 15 teams across Canada (1 team per province and territory). The gender split was roughly equal with 44% of participants women and 56% men.

The implementation of a consultative committee with industry and academia to address common challenges, such as attracting new people and organizations into the space sector and renew a talented and skilled Canadian workforce, has been postponed with the CSA's intent to modernize its engagement and consultations mechanisms over the next year.

CSA's efforts to provide opportunities for youth to acquire the skills to pursue studies and careers in STEM, resulted in 1041 new people and organizations entering space-related fields in 2018 (the most recent data available). This result, well above the target, is mainly attributable to the amount of students participating in the CubeSat Project.

Result 3 — Space information and technologies improve the lives of Canadians

There are two significant ways that the CSA improves the lives of Canadians. The first is through space science and technology that is reused on Earth for the benefit of Canadians, and the second is delivering the data and services that Canadians need from space on a daily basis.

From a science and technology perspective, during David Saint-Jacques' time aboard the ISS, a series of seven scientific experiments were conducted (At Home in Space, Wayfinding, TBone, Vascular Echo, Radi-N2, Vection, Vascular Aging). Among these, the Vascular Series of experiments examined changes in the blood vessels and the heart while the astronauts were in space, and then followed their recovery after their return to Earth. At Home in Space assessed the culture, values, and psychosocial adaptation of astronauts to a space environment shared by multinational astronaut crews on long-duration missions as they dealt with the isolated and confined environment of the spacecraft. Canadian researchers use the ISS to explore scientific questions lying at the convergence of space and terrestrial needs. As such, discoveries and new knowledge from space research are transferred to Earth applications.

In 2019–20, two Canadian-developed technologies were tested aboard the ISS: Bio-Monitor and Bio-Analyzer. Both technologies are intended to be used in human research on the ISS and are expected to find applications on Earth in areas such as health monitoring in remote areas. Bio-Monitor is a smart garment that records six physiological parameters, including heart rate and temperature. The commissioning of the Bio-Monitor was successfully completed and is now used on the ISS to collect data for experiments such as Vascular Aging. Bio-Analyzer is a new technology which was designed to perform real-time analysis of blood cells and biomarkers. The commissioning was partially completed on orbit in 2019–20; additional work to complete the operational implementation of the instrument has been impeded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019–20, the CSA completed the testing, delivery, and integration of the second flight model of three Extended Interaction Klystons (EIK) with its partner, the NASA, in support of the joint NASA-CNES (In French, the Centre national d'études spatiales) Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) science mission. EIKs are key components of the radar instrument within SWOT. This technology will enable accurate measurements of Canada's water resources, which in turn will provide the scientific community with a better understanding of the dynamics of the world's oceans and terrestrial surface water, allowing it to address important global issues like climate change and improve our management of water as a strategic resource. SWOT data could lead to improvements in water-related services in Canada, such as weather predictions and flood-warning systems thus benefitting the scientists of ECCC and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) with better data in support of their mandates. In February 2020, NASA postponed the launch from November 2021 to February 2022 due to problems encountered during SWOT development and assembly that were not related to CSA deliverables.

With respect to delivering data and services that Canadians need from space, the CSA achieved a significant milestone in 2019–20 with the successful launch and commissioning of the RCM, Canada's new EO flagship mission designed to make Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data available to Canadian users, capturing our territory with unprecedented capacity in terms of imaging revisit and coverage.

The RCM was launched in June 2019 and commissioned in November 2019. By the end of the fiscal year, data from the RCM was already contributing to an increased quality and volume of data and services being offered. This data contributes to activities that help Canadians better understand our environment and possible threats, including land use changes, coastal change, sea ice monitoring, urban sinking, measuring human activity influences on local environments, and improving Canada's space-based capabilities to detect ships and manage marine traffic with the use of automatic identification systems. In total, 12 federal departments and agencies used RADARSAT data in 2019–20 to deliver on their mandate, including, but not limited to ECCC, DFO, the Department of National Defence, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The CSA also continued to provide high-quality data services to the various government departments and agencies through RADARSAT-2 for the same purpose.

Early in 2019–20, approximately 37,000 images from the RADARSAT-1 data archives were made available to the public in an effort to encourage the development of novel applications and further the socio-economic benefits of the RADARSAT-1 archive, which represents more than 17 years of continuous EO data across the globe. A survey of the EO user community, conducted in the summer of 2019, was used in preparation for the Request for Information on technical solutions to data access, which was posted in January 2020. The RADARSAT-1 open data initiative is expected to increase the number of services offered to Canadians in priority areas such as climate change, the North, and innovation. It will also increase the openness of federal scientific activities, demonstrating the CSA's leadership in the management of space-based datasets and commitment to Treasury Board of Canada – Secretariat's Directive on Open Government.

In 2019–20, the CSA put in place a Data Expertise Centre to improve the management and the use of CSA data by employees, federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, academic institutions, and Canadian industry. By putting in place this centre, the CSA has the infrastructure and expertise required to manage the ever-increasing volumes of data that can then be made available to Canadians (including CSA decision-makers and data users in industry, in universities and in government) through the CSA Data Strategy.

Space infrastructure has a planned lifetime and can stop functioning if it reaches the end of its operational lifetime, if it suffers a technical malfunction, or is hit by space debris. To mitigate these risks, the CSA continued its support to more than 70 Canadian and international missions in 2019–20, through the Conjunction Risk Assessment and Mitigation System (CRAMS). CRAMS is used to detect space debris risks to space infrastructure and determine suitable collision avoidance options. In addition, technologies for on-orbit automatic risk detection, assessment, and mitigation were explored.

In 2019–20, the CSA also continued its analytical work on opportunities for Canada to collaborate with Europe's Copernicus Program. In an effort to better understand Canada's potential usage of Copernicus' data and services, as well as opportunities for profitable collaboration. In addition, the CSA continued to support the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters , taking part in its critical operations and providing RADARSAT-2 data to organizations across the world that are involved in natural disaster relief efforts.

Through the smartEarth initiative, the CSA issued an announcement of opportunity (AO) in January 2020 to ensure that the Canadian downstream space sector capitalizes on the current transformations in the digital marketplace and open new opportunities. The AO will identify innovative ways through further research and testing with actual imagery to maximize the use of satellite data and other environmental data sources in various domains such as forestry, oceans, and urban applications.

The CSA has been working in close cooperation with DFO and Transport Canada to explore the unique potential of space-based solutions to help detect, monitor, and predict the movements of the endangered North Atlantic right whales in Canadian waters. A request for proposals is planned for 2020–21.

In 2019–20, 22 space technologies and applications were adapted for use on Earth or re-use in space, which is significantly higher than the target of 7 and represents of improvement from results in 2018–19 (16) and 2017–18 (13). For example, the technology developed for lunar rovers was re-used to develop a more sustainable agricultural irrigation system.

Ensuring that space-based data is accessed and used to develop new innovative services or enhance current services that play a critical role for Canadians is an ongoing priority of the CSA. In 2019–20, a total of 12 departments and agencies directly integrated space-based data from CSA assets to deliver 109 services that benefit Canadians. This represents an increase from 96 services offered to Canadians in 2018–19.These services support government initiatives addressing challenges on climate change, changing landscapes, the management of Canada's natural resources, innovation in the agriculture and agri-food sectors and in the management of ocean resources, as well as monitoring activities for national security purposes. New services launched in 2019 focused particularly on environmental initiatives related to water and forest management.

Result 4 — Canada's investments in space benefit the Canadian economy

In 2019–20, the CSA continued to foster innovation in the space sector and enabled Canadian innovators and entrepreneurs to take advantage of growth opportunities that create well-paying jobs and grow the middle class. These benefits are the ultimate goal of the Innovation and Skills Plan, which is an ambitious effort to make Canada a world-leading centre for innovation.

In 2018 (the most recent data), the number of countries investing in space was at a historic high at 84 countries. This rapidly evolving landscape has resulted in increased competition from new space-faring countries. The CSA continues to engage with international partners and in international forums to advance strategic priorities and to establish collaborative opportunities. In addition, to position Canada's commercial space sector to help grow the economy and create the jobs of the future, the CSA has led multiple domestic and international business development activities with a variety of stakeholders across the sector. The Canadian space sector is inherently export-oriented and commercial relationships with foreign partners and inclusion into the global supply chain is critical to the prosperity of Canadian space firms.

The Canada-European Space Agency Cooperation Agreement fosters Canadian space industry exports and facilitates access to European markets. In November 2019, Canada took part in ESA's Ministerial Council meeting. Following broad consultations with Canada's space sector, Canada confirmed new investments totalling approximately $90M in a series of ESA programs that support key government priorities, as well as the space industry and the scientific community. Investments cover several areas, including EO, satellite communications, space exploration, and technology development.

In 2019–20, all five ISC projects from the CSA's first challenge related to artificial intelligence and big data analytics for advanced autonomous space systems were completed.

The CSA actively contributed to the implementation of the national Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy. Through Explore IP, a national web platform, and IP Marketplace, a platform to share federal government patents, the CSA disseminated its own portfolio and the spin-off potential of space technology patents. With respect to business IP, in collaboration with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, four awareness sessions were held, with the attendance of 45 organizations in Ontario (Toronto and Waterloo) and Atlantic Canada (Halifax and St. John's).

By supporting the development, maturation, and commercialization of space technologies and services, the CSA fully supported the goals of ensuring that investments benefit the Canadian economy through the development of value-added services and fostering space export growth. According to the most recent available data, the Canadian space sector generated $2.3B in exports, which represents an increase from the $2.1B generated in 2018–19 and maintained 4,120 highly qualified jobs in 2018.