Traditional government programs have been standalone entities with occasional coordination, particularly for space technologies, with the onus on the individual companies to seek out relevant programs. A rarer model is the industry consortium, which often involves significant preparation time and effort, dedicated funding sources, and often dedicated overhead management for service delivery.
NRC-IRAP is experimenting with a hybrid model in the form of cluster funding. This model consists of a loosely tied group of companies with low overhead and nimble arrangement, focused on an aligned common goal that enables or opens new markets. The group seeks coordinated funding via a cluster strategy that may include leveraging multiple sources of investment for specific projects. IRAP is particularly well situated to coordinate activities and strategy. The recent IRAP Concierge program provides knowledge and relationships to funding programs at all levels of government. IRAP's Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) must know (and protect) the intimate details of each client company as a matter of delivering IRAP services. ITAs are often brought in as reviewers and advisors for other government and consortium-based programs. IRAP and ITA performance goals are also directed at SME client growth so there is a vested interest in the success of the firms. IRAP can also offer potential funding opportunities for projects or clusters as well as financial support the cluster service itself.
Some examples are presented along with challenges and potential application to emerging market needs in space such as SmallSats
The first spacecraft using this newly developed bus is already under contract and in production for launch in 2017.
This paper will provide an overview of the work SSTL has conducted on its new ‘design-for-manufacture’ approach and provide an example platform configuration for Space Surveillance and Situation awareness.
Small satellites are a field where Canada has long held a leadership role - with successful missions like MOST and successful institutions for flight project development and training like UTIAS - and yet this leadership role is increasingly in question as Silicon Valley space companies and NASA both embrace small satellites as areas for major new investment and development. The paper will set out, based on the personal experience of the author working at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley on small satellite projects and at NASA Headquarters in areas related to national space policy, lessons learned from recent US business and programmatic innovations that could be applied in Canada and contribute to a Canadian small satellite renaissance.
The paper will describe the evolving landscape of the US small satellite sector based on the work of NASA’s Emerging Space Office which monitors and evaluates private sector space initiatives on behalf of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. In particular, attention will be paid to the recent wave of small satellite company formation and investment in Silicon Valley, as well as the business models, NASA activities, and overall Silicon Valley culture that have made these new companies and investments possible. Observations will be made regarding the aspects of this business environment that may be replicable and applicable in a Canadian context.
The paper will also describe the role of national space policy in supporting the growing democratization of access to space via small satellite technologies. Particular emphasis will be given to the lessons learned from NASA’s ’50 Spacecraft from 50 States’ cubesat launch initiative which was established by the author in coordination with the Advanced Exploration Systems Division of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and which was announced at the inaugural White House Maker Faire in 2014. This initiative could serve as a model for a similar effort in Canada and observations will be made regarding the potential opportunities and challenges of conducting such an initiative in Canada.
The microgravity conditions of space offers a unique environment to perform drug research with the potential to lead to new therapeutic products. Microgravity provides an opportunity for experimentation in the absence of thermally-induced convection, no sedimentation/stratification, no hydrostatic pressure, and reduced contact with vessel walls. The potential scientific, technological and commercial benefits of microgravity research to humankind are substantial, especially in the drug discovery sector and will revolutionize traditional Earth-bound processing methods.
Today access to microgravity research is limited to government space agencies, performed only by astronauts at the International Space Station, very expensive, long waiting list and the process involves a lot of bureaucracy. SpacePharma approach is to simplify this complicated process making it more accessible, affordable and valuable, bypassing the obstacles through remote-controlled nanosatellite microgravity lab platforms commanded and controlled from ground by the scientists.
SpacePharma has developed sophisticated end-to-end miniaturized lab systems provided with sensors and readers capable of working in different microgravity platforms, ground simulators, parabolic flights, and nano-satellites. All experiments are remotely controlled and commanded by the users using SpacePharma’s scientist front-end proprietary software installed in a laptop or smartphone. Scientists can see the results using miniature readers like light microscope or spectrometer incorporated close to the reaction chamber. Customized lab-on-chips microfluidics-based fluid handling system generating microdroplets are used to perform colloidal chemistry or biological experiments increasing significantly the magnitude of microgravity research in the near future.
Under conditions of microgravity, symptoms develop more rapidly and therefore solutions can be accelerated. For example, in microgravity bacterial virulence and pathogenicity increases, and several bacteria were shown to become more resistant to common antibiotics presenting enhanced biofilm formation. Thus, microgravity has the potential to lead to the identification of novel regulation of genes, providing new potential targets for vaccine and development of new antibiotic drugs.
Microgravity allows for optimal growth of unique, orderly, and high-quality crystal structures of proteins in the absence of gravity or convection to disrupt their growth resulting in the discovery of more potent drug inhibitors. Ion-channels are sensitive to gravity changes, therefore, pharmacological ion-channel model assays under microgravity would facilitate drug screening and discovery.
Preliminary feasibility studies have shown the ability of SpacePharma’s SatLabs to perform chemical reactions, protein/drug crystallization, self-assembling of macromolecules, enzymatic reactions, bacterial growth and stem cell culturing using a variety of generic lab-on-chip microfluidic devices.
