The Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) is launching a new Symposium series to be held annually with the Canadian SmallSat Symposium as its first event.

The Canadian SmallSat Symposium builds on the heritage of past Canadian events including the Canadian Nanosatellite Workshop held in 2012.

The Canadian SmallSat Symposium is about opportunity, building capability and international partnerships. The demand for SmallSat’s is growing in demand, especially at the micro and nano scale. To take advantage of this demand, the CSCA is bringing together stakeholders from across the country and inviting international participation to foster cooperation and market growth.

There are currently over 1400 active satellites in orbit of all sizes. The fastest growing space segment market is in small satellites. In the coming years there are plans to launch several thousand small satellites. This includes a new constellation of 900 small satellites, or microsatellites, by OneWeb.

OneWeb is building a new global communications system to create affordable broadband services. The goal is to provide reliable high-speed internet access to all communities around the world who don’t currently have access. In June of this year OneWeb announced it had received $500 million in funding from several prominent partners. This is a massive, ambitious project that will be catalyst for an ever expanding commercial space market.

The Founder and Chairman of OneWeb is Greg Wyler who will open the Canadian SmallSat Symposium as the first plenary speaker. Mr. Wyler will be available to media for interviews including live on-air opportunities.

This Symposium is an important event for Canadians interested in further developing the small satellite market in Canada with the goal of creating Highly Qualified Personnel job opportunities and developing export markets which can include supplying projects like OneWeb’s constellation.

The Symposium will be held in Toronto over two days on February 2nd and 3rd, 2016. We anticipate the Symposium will attract upwards of 150 people from industry, government, university, the investment community and others interested in this growing segment of the space market.

Keynote and Plenary speakers already confirmed include;

– Dr. S. Pete Worden, Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation
– Philip Miller, Vice President, Operations and Engineering, exactEarth
– Robert Zee, Director, UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory
– Wade Larson, President and COO, UrtheCast
– Luis Gomes, Director of Earth Observation and Science, SSTL

The symposium will feature 2 lunch keynote speakers, 6 plenary speakers, 8 panels and up to 48 talks including a mini-student symposium.

Topics of discussion include: Competitions: Prizes and Challenges, Education: Student Mini-Symposium, Government’s Role, Ground Systems and Communications, Launch Opportunities and Challenges, Missions: Earth Observation, Missions: Science/Mission Payloads, Missions: Technologies, Space Law and Policy and the Market.

The symposium is currently accepting paper submissions until Wednesday, December 16 and registration is now open.

https://smallsat.ca/call-for-papers/
https://smallsat.ca/registration/

The symposium will facilitate a Business to Business exchange, setting aside a room dedicated to fostering discussion between various organizations attending. As well, there will be an exhibit area for organizations to promote their services and products as well as sponsor opportunities.

The symposium is being held at the Novotel Toronto Centre in downtown Toronto. A special room rate is available from this web page: https://smallsat.ca/our-venue/.

For more information please visit: https://smallsat.ca

About the Canadian Space Commerce Association

The Canadian Space Commerce Association, Canada’s national space industry association, founded in 2007, is a registered not-for-profit organization that advances the economic, legal and political environment for space organizations.

For more information about the Canadian Space Commerce Association and when our next event is, please visit our website at: spacecommerce.ca

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Media Contact:
Marc Boucher
Executive Director
marc.boucher@spacecommerce.ca
Tel: 519-685-6586