Voyages to the Moon and Mars are gradually becoming a reality, and private companies – including Quebec companies – are sharpening their weapons to conquer the interstellar Eldorado.
• Read also: A Russian ship hit by a meteorite in space; a leak observed
• Read also: “Aquatic worlds” discovered in space by UdeM researchers
• Read also: Aliens wouldn’t have contacted Earth because there’s no sign of intelligence
Gone are the days of the Soviet and US governments competing for billions of dollars over who pushes the furthest into space. Private companies are now in the front line in this race, which represents a market of more than 370 billion US dollars (508 billion Canadian dollars), according to the firm Euroconsult.
Billionaires, like Elon Musk, are already sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) with his company SpaceX, but Quebecers are not left out.
Quebecers who see far
“In Quebec, we have 950 employees who work in space. They make satellites, parts for other companies’ satellites and computers for space,” says Giovanni D’Aliesio, director of development at MDA Satellite Systems.
MDA, which has an office in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, built the International Space Station’s Canadarm robotic arm, which is used, among other things, to maintain the Station and to seize cargo ships and dock them to the Station. .
The company is also responsible for the construction of Canadarm3, the robotic arm of the new space station in orbit around the Moon which will be launched around 2026.
Photo from NASA website
An autonomous borer used to extract water from beneath the lunar surface.
An opening market
“Before, it was always the governments that had the money. We had to wait for the government for the projects. But the cost of sending technology into space has come down a lot lately, thanks to companies like SpaceX. Today, it is possible to be profitable by exploiting space”, adds Giovanni D’Aliesio.
Other Quebec companies have launched into space. Felix & Paul Studios, of Montreal, is developing, among other things, a camera to capture images outside the International Space Station.
NGC Aérospatiale, of Sherbrooke, is developing a computerized system allowing space vehicles to land safely on the Moon.
Goal Mars
“Since the moon race in the 1960s, governments have dominated space exploration programs. What we are seeing more and more is the emergence of public-private partnerships and the presence of companies that are helping to reduce costs and improve program efficiency,” said Miguel Ouellette, economist at Euroconsult, a firm specializing in supporting companies and government entities in the space sector, which has an office in Montreal.
The American company Bobcat is also working on the construction of machines that will make it possible to extract materials on the Moon, according to our sources.
Unexpected competitors
Recall that the main mission of NASA’s Artemis is to set foot on Mars by 2030, thus opening up possibilities for companies wishing to contribute to the missions.
The American Caterpillar, known for its tractors and heavy machinery for agriculture and construction, is working on its side on remote-controlled mining equipment, which might end up on the Moon, CNBC recently reported.
Not all news on the site expresses the views of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.
