Delays to the decision by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) over ordering the successor to its Radarsat earth observation constellation has prompted space hardware subsystems manufacturer Com Dev to restructure and downsize its Canadian government space…
Delays to the decision by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) over ordering the successor to its Radarsat earth observation constellation has prompted space hardware subsystems manufacturer Com Dev to restructure and downsize its Canadian government space division, Com Dev Canada.
The total cost associated with the restructuring is estimated to be approximately C$2m and 31 employees will be laid off.
Michael Pley, CEO of Com Dev, commented: “As Canada’s leading supplier of instruments and payloads for government space missions, the lack of new program opportunities from the Canadian Space Agency in the foreseeable future has forced us to take action.
“The funding situation on the CSA’s Radarsat Constellation Mission is still uncertain and, if not resolved in the near future, will result in further job losses once development funding runs out later this year. I regret the impact these circumstances have had on the employees who are being affected.”
Com Dev Canada has been contracted to provide the central electronics and AIS payloads for the two–satellite Radarsat Constellation Mission. Radarsat-1 was launched back in 1995, while Radarsat-2 was launched at the end of 2007.
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates was the prime contractor on the project and has also previously expressed concerns over the potential impact of delays to the constellation’s three-satellite successor.
