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Canada's industry minister confirmed Friday he is blocking the sale of leading space firm MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates to a US defense contractor, saying it provided no net benefit to Canada.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice first announced last month that he would block the proposed sale of MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) to US firm Alliant Techsystems (ATK), amid fears the future of Canada's space industry, national security, and even its Arctic sovereignty could be jeopardized.
More here: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Can...ister_999.html
Industry Minister Jim Prentice first announced last month that he would block the proposed sale of MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) to US firm Alliant Techsystems (ATK), amid fears the future of Canada's space industry, national security, and even its Arctic sovereignty could be jeopardized.
More here: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Can...ister_999.html
They argued that MDA's powerful observation satellite Radarsat-2, launched in December with 445 million dollars in Canadian government funding, and a key tool in mapping and keeping an eye on the Arctic, would be lost to Canadians.
Canada is at odds with the United States, as well as Russia, Denmark, and Norway over 1.2 million square kilometers (460,000 sq. miles) of Arctic seabed believed to hold 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
In addition to Dextre and Radarsat-2, the Richmond, British Columbia-based company also developed the space robotic arm Canadarm used by NASA.
Canada is at odds with the United States, as well as Russia, Denmark, and Norway over 1.2 million square kilometers (460,000 sq. miles) of Arctic seabed believed to hold 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
In addition to Dextre and Radarsat-2, the Richmond, British Columbia-based company also developed the space robotic arm Canadarm used by NASA.
