In the next issue I will publish a list of events taking place in 1997. If your organization has something major planned for this coming year, then please contact me with the details if you haven't already (criswick@conveyor.com or by Fax at 613-562-1784).

In this issue I have compiled a list of conferences taking place in Canada for 1997. A more extensive version is available on SPACE JOBS at: http://www.spacejobs.com/events/

Subscribers on this list currently number just over 700. It has been in operation for two years now.

NEWS BRIEFS

COM DEV AWARDED IRIDIUM FOLLOW-ON CONTRACT

Cambridge, Dec.30.96 - COM DEV International Ltd. was awarded $20 million by the Motorola Satellite Communications Division to produce 30 sets of Ka-band antennas for the Iridium satellite constellation. Each satellite will carry a set of 10 antennas supplied by COM DEV. COM DEV manufactured and supplied the antennas for the original 72 Iridium satellites. This current agreement covers antennas for 30 additional spacecraft that will serve as replacements during the life cycle of the Iridium program.

Iridium is poised for the launch of the first 3 of its constellation satellites. The first launch was planned for this past week although it has been delayed due to the recent loss of a similar launch vehicle (Delta II) on Jan.17.9 and pending investigation.

RADARSAT IN THE NEWS

RADARSAT International has been active in the news since the last issue, particularly with the coverage it has received during the search for lost sailors in Vendee Globe yacht race including Canadian sailor Gerry Roufs. More information on this can be found on the web at:

http://radarsat.space.gc.ca/ENG/What_s_New/menu.html

Other noteworthy items:

• EarthSat of Rockville, Maryland has signed a license to distribute RADARSAT data in the U.S. excluding the U.S. federal government.
• The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland has signed a license agreement to distribute RADARSAT data and products in Switzerland.
• Defense Evaluation Research Agency of the U.K. is the first to receive RADARSAT Network Station Certification.
• National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan signs agreement to receive and process RADARSAT data at key reception locations in northeast Asia.
• SPOT Asia Pte. Ltd. of Singapore signs an agreement with RSI to distribute RADARSAT data in southeast Asia.
• RADARSAT demonstrated its utility in disaster response situations when it delivered imagery of an oil spill in the Sea of Japan earlier this month

MDA WINS SAUDI GROUND STATION CONTRACT

Vancouver, Dec.18.96 - MDA announced today that it has won a contract with the Saudi Centre for Remote Sensing to upgrade its existing Earth observation centre in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The upgrade will give Saudi Arabia the ability to handle radar images from Canada's RADARSAT-1 satellite and optical images from India's IRS-1C satellite.

COM DEV LAUNCHES INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

In December '96 COM DEV began trading on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges after an initial public offering to raise some $80 million (CDN). Shares during the IPO were sold at $8.25 and are currently trading at $12.45 on the TSE. COM DEV trades under the symbol CDV.

NEWFOUNDLAND COMPANIES AWARDED CONTRACTS

Three Newfoundland high-tech companies have been awarded over $2.4 million in contracts through the Canadian Space Agency's STEAR program. In short the contracts were for the development of:

• a smart video surveillance system to be employed on the International Space Station, awarded to Canpolar East Inc. of St. John's.
  
• a tactile sensor textile called Kinotex, awarded to Canpolar East Inc. and Measurand
  
• algorithms for the computer-enhancement of video images taken in extreme lighting conditions, awarded to Canpolar East Inc..
  
• sensor technology to alert airline pilots to the formation of ice, snow or liquids on their aircraft prior to take-off, awarded to Instrumar.
  
• an intelligent guidance system for docking and maneuvering of large ships in confined waterways and harbours, awarded to CoreTec Inc.

TWO CANADIANS WIN SILVER SNOOPY

St-Hubert, Oct.25.96 - Francois Terrillon of the Canadian Space Agency and John Douglas Lymer of SPAR Aerospace Ltd. were presented the Silver Snoopy awared by US astronaut Kevin Chilton in recognition of their outstanding contribution to NASA's space flight program.

Francois Terrillon of the Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Program Office received the award for the development of a simulator which predicts the accuracy of the Space Vision System (SVS) as well as contributions toward the success of Shuttle flight STS-74 last year.

John Douglas Lymer of SPAR Aerospace won the Snoopy for his major cost saving initiative on the Space Station Remote Manipulator System and its Mobile Base System.

TRYGVASSON CHOSEN FOR SHUTTLE FLIGHT IN 1997

Canadian astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason was selected by NASA/CSA in November to join the crew of Shuttle mission STS-85 as payload specialist. The flight aboard Space Shuttle Discovery will take place in July this year on an 11 day mission. Tryggvason will perform various microgravity experiments involving the Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES / EVENTS

International Astronomy Day, April 12

CASI 44th Annual Meeting, April 28-30, Ottawa

SpaceBound '97, May 11-14, Montreal

9th International Geomatics Conference, May 25-30, Ottawa

6th International Symposium on Gas Liquid Two-Phase Flows, June 22-26, Vancouver

Space Based Power Systems '97, August 24-28, Montreal

Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution, August 30 - September 5, Sudbury

AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium, October 17-19, Toronto

For *the* most extensive conference listing, see: http://www.spacejobs.com/events/

RECENT ADDITIONS/CHANGES TO THE WWW

FRE Composites http://www.fre.ca/

Interoptics http://www.optics.ca/ (registered but may not yet be functional)

COM DEV http://www.comdev.ca/

CSA Space Science Program http://www.science.sp-agency.ca/

David Florida Lab http://www.dfl.doc.ca/

SEDS Systems, Inc. http://www.sedsystems.ca/

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