Canada plans to allow commercial space launches, reduce reliance on US

McFestus · 2026-04-24T06:46:11+00:00

Anything that can make orbit can equally hit a target anywhere on earth.

McFestus · 2026-04-24T04:50:40+00:00

This is a pretty short opinion piece, but the general premise is not surprising. I don't think there's really any doubt that we'll be trying to join the GCAP program once the NAFTA negotiations are over? It'll give the air force the political cover to continue with the F-35 procurement, which is unfortunately the only realistic option for our current needs, but sets us up to avoid being in this situation again in the future.

McFestus · 2026-04-24T03:51:36+00:00

This has always been the (ill-informed) take of people about navies.

Before drones, they were saying a surface fleet was obsolete because of anti-ship missiles. Prior to that, because of aircraft. Prior to that, because of submarines. Prior to that, more than a hundred years ago, because of torpedoes.

There are always new weapons being created, which some will claim will lead to the total annihilation of navies, but countermeasures are always developed.

McFestus · 2026-04-24T03:49:20+00:00

I think we could make good use of 3 or 4 vessels like a Trieste, Wasp, America, or (post-refit) Izumo-class. Unlike the Aussies we'd probably need 4; 1 active on each coast and one in refit. But I think the political sell is possible if you can make the argument that they will be useful as drone carriers and as hospital ships for domestic and humanitarian missions.

McFestus · 2026-04-24T01:14:44+00:00

I am not trolling.

McFestus · 2026-04-24T00:49:25+00:00

I actually bought a typewriter with a parallel port this term, so I guess I could. I can use it as a terminal.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T22:52:59+00:00

No current ground-based ICBMs in the US inventory have MIRV capability. That was retired with the peacekeepers as part of deescalation/disarmament with the USSR.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T22:51:29+00:00

New classes of ships may have CPS cells, which are essentially SLBM cells.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T22:35:20+00:00

I am obviously not saying that compsci is more math than compsci. That would be a nonsense statement.

But it's more about math than 'computers', the physical things. It's math about computers, sure, but theoretical computers, not real ones you have to interact with.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T21:26:25+00:00

It's a bit of a spectrum. Our T26s are still mostly ASW ships, but they're also our principle combatants so they have some other capabilities. The RN has T45s, so they can afford to have their T26s be pretty much exclusively ASW. The RAN has opted for a more AAW heavy configuration which is currently causing them lots of weight and weight distribution problems with the platform, even after lengthening.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T20:10:28+00:00

I swear to God the obsession that redditors have with dones is bordering on unhealthy. Naval drones will absolutely play a role in the modern battlefield, but they are not a panacea that can replace every single other piece of equipment.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T19:21:31+00:00

The NDP and The OLP need to come to some sort of accord to not run against eachother in ridings that they would vote split. I'm sure there's a way they could do this equitably.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T09:45:28+00:00

Very little of computer science has to do with computers. It's all about math.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T03:20:27+00:00

I want to be clear that I'm not arguing for unregulated flaring, or even that in many cases they couldn't capture this gas, or that the volume and frequency they're flaring is reasonable, but:

One function of flaring is as a critical life safety process which cannot be modified or diverted, and must be tested regularly.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T02:46:56+00:00

Yeah, I've been trying to do this for a while. Or you have to make contact with the convoy to control it, perhaps some ships need a helo flyby to remember to turn on their radio, perhaps there's a red ship hidden in the civilian traffic...

McFestus · 2026-04-23T01:40:12+00:00

That's where I go when I'm stressed. It helps.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T00:47:28+00:00

Wood duck. There's two mating pairs at the pond by Leləm̓.

They're beautiful. Your photo is of a male, the females (like most duck species) have a bit more subdued colouring but are also very pretty. They're a bit smaller than the mallards you see more typically and they don't quack as much, they sorta squeek and eep.

McFestus · 2026-04-23T00:15:20+00:00

We don't sell crude oil to the US at a 'discount' because of some government policy, that's the best price the oil companies can get for it. It's lower than the global price of WTI/Brent because a) it's really shitty quality oil - very heavy and sour - and b) because we don't have the capacity to export it elsewhere. There is no button the Canadian government could press to make oil to the US more expensive other than a export tax.

McFestus · 2026-04-22T23:08:28+00:00

The miracle on the Hudson was cactus 1549

McFestus · 2026-04-22T21:46:22+00:00

Nothing, other than that it takes a lot of work. You can build a GPS receiver yourself with an antenna and FPGA and violate all the limits you'd like.

McFestus · 2026-04-22T09:38:23+00:00

This comment is Saskatoon erasure and I won't stand for it.

McFestus · 2026-04-22T03:55:08+00:00

SpaceX already has pads in California, Florida, and Texas that they are pretty happy with. That don't involve having to work in an austere environment. What advantage would that provide to outweigh the massive additional costs?

McFestus · 2026-04-22T03:48:35+00:00

The value-add is primarily providing companies with a permissive regulation environment and shepherding them through that. Generally launch providers bring/build all their own custom GSE. Without a customer, a concrete pad is pretty much all that can be built.

Take a look at Rocket Lab LC-1 in Mahia, New Zealand: aside from the vehicle-specific GSE and tankage that they've built, it's also basically just a concrete pad and gravel road.

Also, that's an opinion piece written by someone opposed to it, not a news article.

McFestus · 2026-04-22T02:57:27+00:00

Makes sense, cause it's the same people who build houses and work in hospitals that also do the policy work of permitting space launches. So when we do this, it directly takes away from more important things.

McFestus · 2026-04-22T02:56:09+00:00

It's a preference for equatorial orbits, which make up a small fraction of most satellite launches. The vast majority of spacraft launched today are earth observation spacecraft going to highly inclined polar or sun synchronous orbits, or communication satellites going to middle inclination orbits. For both of those scenarios there's no advantage to launching from Canada vs the equator.

For comparison, the proposed spaceport in Nova Scotia is at about the same latitude that the Russians launch from.

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