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Canada’s $664M investment in the European Space Agency is the most significant investment Canada has made since partnering with the ESA, supporting both civilian and defence R&D for Canadian space tech.
It is expected to create hundreds of jobs in Canada and generate significant ROI. Canadian-ESA investments have traditionally seen an average return ratio of 3:1 - every dollar granted produced a 3x return.
The funding will go to critical ESA Program Areas ranging from Satellite Communications and Earth Observations, to Space Exploration, Space Safety, and Navigation and Technology Development. The programs were selected following consultations with Canadian firms in the space sector.
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Aside from investing dollars in international projects, the move is designed to give tangible benefits to the Canadian industry. Money will be allocated to key fields determined from consultation with the Canadian space sector. Enhanced Canadian access to the European market means that firms will be positioned to compete for high-value contracts and engage with European leaders in the sector.
Partnerships are a two-way street.
For the defence industry: With its Defence Industrial Strategy in mind, Canada will invest in ESA programs aligning with its strategic objectives. This means that over the next 3 years, Canada will focus on programs to enhance its capacity to meet its dual-use requirements.
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Engaging the ESA means taking advantage of the bridges being built between the European space and defence sectors. The ESA has been focused on supporting Europe’s Readiness 2030 plan (formerly ReArm Europe), which aims to mobilise €800B in defence spending over the next 4 years. The ESA plans to contribute to this mobilisation by bringing the space and defence sectors closer together, increasing its dual-use and security-related initiatives, and committing to defence-related programs if mandated to do so by its member states.
When the ESA gets around to launching humans into space, hopefully it will include Canadians. If Europe ever gets its act together and decides to become an informal republic of autonomous states, it would certainly hurry things up. There is no reason why a unified Europe could not leap over the US in space. They have the money, and they could certainly create a company to rival SpaceX. Over the last 8 decades, they became lax and put too much dependence on America. They put all their investment money into American ventures, not their own. That seems to be changing recently. CERN really did boost their confidence, and now China has decided to invest in the European next generation collider instead of building their own in China.
Maybe Canadians will see the light, and divert our investment dollars into Europe instead of America.
https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/no-canada-didnt-give-the-u-s-a-trillion-dollar-gift-but-theres-still-reason-to-worry-trevor-tombe-in-the-hub/