Space agency closing research lab key to International Space Station, Canadarm | 24CA News
The Canadian Space Agency has confirmed a west Ottawa spacecraft laboratory it calls “Canada’s national facility for spacecraft assembly [and] integration” is closing on the finish of March 2025.
The David Florida Laboratory formally opened in 1972 within the Shirley’s Bay complicated off Carling Avenue.
It’s one of many few complexes on the earth that may simulate circumstances of a rocket launch and area flight, in accordance with the company. It additionally performs some work on antennas that is not performed anyplace else.
Work on the Canadarm and the steerage sensor for the James Webb Space Telescope was carried on the market, and the lab continues to offer “ongoing support for Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station Program.”
The facility additionally had area out there for lease to different corporations and organizations.
The “achievements” part of the lab’s web site lists 41 wins over 50 years on topics comparable to monitoring asteroids, communications expertise for Japan and Spain, life on Mars and monitoring modifications to Earth’s floor water.
Answering an electronic mail from CBC on Friday, an area company spokesperson stated the lab is scheduled to shut March 31, 2025, after a number of months of winding down.
“The Canadian Space Agency remains committed to working closely with industry to help unlock the full potential of Canada’s space sector and respond to the realities of the new and growing space market,” they stated.
They declined a request for an interview.
The lab is called after C. David Florida who labored on experimental communications satellites and was director of the Canadian National Space Telecommunications Laboratory when he died in 1971.
