March 19, 2019—Hon. Hedy Fry, Vancouver Centre
“Mr. Speaker,
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Macdonald Dettwiler, a BC company that launched Canada as a world leader in Space, telecommunications, Earth observation and robotics.
In 1963, UBC engineers were able to map the ionosphere when NASA could not. Two of them began MDA whose contributions to the aerospace sector have been ground breaking.
MDA’s robotics capabilities led to the invention of the Canadarm, the first ever in-space servicing system.
They then went on to develop Cassiopeia, the rapid up and down loading of massive data. Today MDA is a global leader in space technology, dedicated to a resilient, rich and competitive industrial base across Canada.
As Canada re-commits to space exploration MDA will be at that New Frontier to ‘boldly go where no one has gone before’.”
