12 Fall / Automne 2017 Lift Off Off Daniel Kerkonian from the McGill Univer- sity Institute of Air and Space Law further an- ticipates that the act may not be able to keep up with emerging technologies and possibly hinder national and international business opportunities with its strenuous licensing processes; e.g., the current delay in approving the use of Inuvik’s satellite ground station to communicate with the fleet of satellites from the American remote sensing firm Planet. The act also places stringent regulations on the dissemination of “raw data” that has potential to be used for many applications versus the oversight applied to “remote sens- ing products” that have been transformed for specific uses. Combined with existing favoured public-private partnership models where the Canadian government does not own the satellites collecting remote sensing data, results in data access for Canadians are being limited. Alternative models, where the government subsidizes data access, can thus be considered more advantageous in order to support researchers and startups who are trying to leverage advances in the availability and processing of big data for addressing global challenges and looking for new market opportunities, respectively. THE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS From April to May 2017, the SAB hosted seven in-person meetings in different cities and two virtual events engaging northern communities and young professionals to collect input from different space industry stakeholders. The meetings were well at- tended by students, industry profession- als, academia, teachers, space enthusiasts, journalists, and others. The “Consultation Paper for the Space Advisory Board: Driv- ing Canada’s Future in Space” laid out the two main topics for discussion: using space to drive broader economic growth and leveraging space for the benefit of Can- adians. Over 150 participants attended the in-person and online meetings. The three most prominent discussion points during those meetings were (i) balanced space program, (ii) modernizing laws and regu- lations, and (iii) education and outreach. A balanced space program would include a combination of stable funding for flag- ship missions and smaller scientific and by Dario Schor anada is overdue for a national space strategy. In August 2017, the renewed Space Advisory Board (SAB) submitted its recommenda- tions to the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. The report in- corporates the views from not only the ex- perienced board members, but also from in- person and virtual roundtable discussions en- gaging industry stakeholders, thus providing a more comprehensive outlook on the future of Canada in space. This article summarizes the main discussion points from the stakeholder meetings and reviews the key recommenda- tions from the SAB as they relate to Canada’s future in space. Ad adstra, Dario Schor; schor@ieee.org technology demonstration “contributions” missions, the latter subsidized by the CSA. Large programs like the International Space Station provide high visibility for Canada while contributing to international research collaborations, strengthening humanitarian activities such as disaster management and ecosystem monitoring, as well as supporting national needs; e.g., security. Smaller initia- tives enhance Canada’s ability to respond to new developments in the field that en- able industry and academia to obtain flight heritage on emerging technologies and con- tribute instrumentation or technologies to international partner missions while de- veloping skills and talent in a competitive market. A balanced program would improve the current model where many prelimin- ary studies are conducted, but missions are scattered over long periods, thus making it difficult for both industry and academia to find opportunities to test new developments in flight and to maintain viable teams. Space Legislation A strong case was made to update Canada’s space legislation to keep up with inter- national trends in areas like remote sens- ing and space mining. For instance, while Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty from 1967 states that outer space and other celes- tial bodies are not subject to national appro- priation, there is no consensus on whether this extends to materials extracted from the celestial bodies. The United States has already passed the so-called Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act in 2015 explicitly allowing US citizens to “engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources” and other nations are expected to follow. Similarly, there is a need to revisit the Canadian Remote Sensing Space Systems Act that attempts to balance the dual use of space activities as it relates to space assets, ground stations, and data collected. An independent review published in February 2017 by Ram Jakhu and Aram The Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) challenges university teams to design, build, and launch rockets to 10,000 feet or 30,000 feet while carrying a 10 pound payload. The competition takes place at Spaceport America in New Mexico, United States over the course of a week. Canadian teams have been participating in the competition since 2011 and have been recognized with many awards. rockÉTS from École de technologie supérieure in Montreal is one of the many university teams in Canada partici- pating in IREC since 2012. The group of over 30 passionate engineering students designed the EMERILLON-IV consisting of a carbon fibre body that is 139.54 inches high, has a 5.16 inch diam- eter, and houses a payload, avionics, and para- chute. The scientific experiment is designed to execute autonomously during the 2-3 minute long trajectory that reaches speeds of over 550 mph. ROCKET ENGINEERING COMPETITION ROCKET ENGINEERING COMPETITION