This single statement conveys the importance of the space economy in Canada alone. As a founding member of Space Canada, a recently launched industry association, Calian® is committed to promoting the interests of Canadian companies in the space economy. We can—and will—continue to make a difference and do our part for Canada’s space industrial base and lead innovation in the space economy. At Calian, we believe that we can make a difference utilizing Canada’s growing pool of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent; supply chains; and through commercializing innovation.
STEM Sector
Developing the STEM sector is essential to maintaining Canada’s relevance in space and sustaining Canadian innovation, design, development, and manufacturing. Organizations in the space industry hire students, co-ops and recent graduates with STEM education training. In addition, we collaborate with universities to translate theory into practice. Providing a stable environment for development of a career in STEM develops skills and innovation through experience and mentorship.
Supply Chain / Small Medium Businesses (SMBs)
Much of Canada’s supply chain is built around industries of oil, gas and mining. Developing space as the next frontier allows Canada’s supply chains to diversify into this exciting new market. The supply chain for delivering space solutions is across Canada, including components and materials suppliers. Many parts of the supply chain are SMBs. Supporting these SMBs means supporting a strong, diverse space industrial base.
Commercializing Innovation
Turning concept into reality means commercializing innovation. By engaging with post-secondary organizations and through internal investment, we are turning innovation into commercial success with new solutions for customers at home and abroad.
Our Place in Space
Calian plays a unique role in space.
We are a global leader in designing, developing, manufacturing, and delivering ground-based solutions to support mission critical space applications for communications, earth observation and for space exploration.
Proudly Canadian, we develop leading-edge solutions for government, military, and commercial clients around the world.
Our place in space is two-pronged: supporting applications on earth and reaching out to the cosmos. Let’s start with our capabilities supporting applications on earth.
Calian Supports Communication and Sustainability on Earth
Consider that there are over 6,500 operational satellites in orbit, the earth is hurdling forward at 30km/second and it rotates at 460m/second. Although it can appear chaotic, Calian pulls it all together from the ground by providing critical on-earth communications infrastructure that manages these space assets and their precious resources on-board in real time. Here are a few examples:
- Supporting everyday life that we take for granted: Satellite TV, SiriusXM broadcast radio, telecommunications, and aircraft flight deck communications
- Relaying earth observations taken from space to protect Canadian sovereignty and study the effects of pollution and climate change on our crops, forests, ice fields, water levels and shipping lanes
Calian Reaches Out to the Cosmos
We all share a thirst for deeper understanding of the universe we live in. Knowledge about the origins of the universe, details of the sun’s surface, black holes and other deep space phenomenon. Calian provides leading-edge solutions to support the exploration of the universe, including:
- Complex deep space missions: Providing European Space Agency’s Deep Space Network, used to track probes like Rosetta, which travelled over 7.9B kilometers for a rendezvous with a comet
- Research and mapping of space: Radar imaging a black hole, mapping the surface of the sun and other celestial bodies
- Radar and Radio Astronomy: Space radar for foreign object and threat detection
Why Space Canada?
The answer starts with our legacy in space.
For over 50 years we have grown our reputation to a global space ground systems centre of excellence. This gives our customers in government, military, and commercial markets confidence that we can tackle and solve the most complex space and satellite challenges in Canada and beyond. Composite fiber antennas are a case in point. Recognizing the difficulty traditional steel-based antennas will have in communicating using very small wavelengths required for next generation satellite communications networks, our team embarked on the development of satellite antenna reflectors made from composite materials. In collaboration with National Research Council’s Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, we developed the first commercially available composite large aperture antennas to support these wavelengths. The inherent rigidity of the composite materials prevents large reflectors from expanding and contracting during solar and weather changes, keeping the antennas locked on their satellites, thus ensuring an optimal communications flow over the network.
The answer then continues to our place in space today.
Calian has centres of excellence across Canada—from across the prairies to Ontario and Quebec—that develop state of the art solutions for communication gateways, software-defined communication and tests and satellite operations and software for the advanced management of satellite payload frequencies and power resources.
We make a difference.
Space Canada
Calian is happy to announce our place as a founding member of Space Canada. Driven by innovation and ambition for space, the future is exciting. Want to learn more? Read the press release
Reference:
Exploration. Imagination. Innovation. A New Space Strategy for Canada, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 2019
