Haliguy
10-26-2007, 03:32 PM
Ottawa eyes funding Cape Breton space venture
DANIEL LEBLANC
October 26, 2007
OTTAWA -- The Harper government is considering a $45-million boost to a space-tourism project in Cape Breton as one of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes, sources have told The Globe and Mail.
PlanetSpace, the firm that would benefit, has hired Fred Doucet, a senior Conservative official from the Mulroney era, to help seal the deal.
The project is related to the Canadian Forces' purchase of 17 Hercules C130J cargo planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. To get the plane contract, Lockheed Martin had to promise to spend the equivalent of the $3.2-billion purchase price in the form of regional benefits.
Sources said Lockheed Martin's proposed list of investments, which was submitted to Industry Canada and is awaiting cabinet approval, includes a promise to spend $45-million over six years on PlanetSpace's project.
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According to its website, PlanetSpace wants to send 2,000 people into suborbital space flights over five years, even though the company has not started accepting reservations for the $250,000 trips.
The company has estimated it will cost about $150-million to build a launch pad and rocket on its site in Nova Scotia. It's not clear how much money the company already has or where its funding comes from.
"There have only been about 450 astronauts in the history of man. PlanetSpace astronauts will be among the first civilians to make the voyage to space," the company's website said.
The $45-million investment in PlanetSpace would not be a federal subsidy, but it would be the direct result of federal approval of Lockheed Martin's mandatory plan to provide regional benefits from the aircraft sale.
The government treats regional benefits as a confidential matter, having so far refused to divulge the offsets flowing from the purchase of four Boeing C17s at the start of the year.
John Williamson of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation slammed the PlanetSpace project as silly and unlikely to succeed. "The government of Canada should be looking to buy these planes at the cheapest price possible, as opposed to having companies spend money needlessly in this country, which we'll be paying for directly or indirectly," he said.
Sources said that Lockheed Martin has met with PlanetSpace officials and confirmed that the project has been submitted to the government for approval as an industrial regional benefit.
"Whether [PlanetSpace] is approved as part of ... an IRB [Industrial and Regional Benefits] plan is up to Industry Canada," a source said.
Another source said PlanetSpace has already cleared a number of bureaucratic hurdles and will be seeking ministerial support in coming weeks.
The federal lobbyist registry confirmed that PlanetSpace has turned to Mr. Doucet, who was former prime minister Brian Mulroney's chief of staff and political troubleshooter, for help on the file.
Sources said Lockheed Martin is proposing to invest the money on Athena rockets that would propel the PlanetSpace craft into space, as well as ground equipment on the East Coast.
PlanetSpace chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria said he has been told not to comment on dealings with Lockheed Martin and the federal government.
"PlanetSpace, as a matter of policy, doesn't disclose ongoing government and competitive activities," he said.
A spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Business Inc. confirmed that the government agency is in discussions with PlanetSpace to provide land for the launch site. It was reported last year that NSB Inc. planned to provide 120 hectares of land for the project, but spokeswoman Sarah Levy said there are still many "moving parts" in the negotiations and that numbers are not final.
PlanetSpace also has a non-monetary agreement in place with NASA in a bid to "facilitate the commercialization of low-Earth orbit."
While a number of groups are working to send tourists into space, companies involved in the race have encountered a number of setbacks in recent years, and NASA is looking for new partners to work on the project.
DANIEL LEBLANC
October 26, 2007
OTTAWA -- The Harper government is considering a $45-million boost to a space-tourism project in Cape Breton as one of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes, sources have told The Globe and Mail.
PlanetSpace, the firm that would benefit, has hired Fred Doucet, a senior Conservative official from the Mulroney era, to help seal the deal.
The project is related to the Canadian Forces' purchase of 17 Hercules C130J cargo planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. To get the plane contract, Lockheed Martin had to promise to spend the equivalent of the $3.2-billion purchase price in the form of regional benefits.
Sources said Lockheed Martin's proposed list of investments, which was submitted to Industry Canada and is awaiting cabinet approval, includes a promise to spend $45-million over six years on PlanetSpace's project.
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
More National Stories
Could paranoid rage be the real killer?
He spent 10 hours frustrated by airport bureaucracy. Just 24 seconds later, police shot him with tasers
A reward for hard work - and never giving up
Hush-hush firefighter deal lifts Toronto's unions
A sobering coincidence in Surrey shooting
Health coalition wants salt intake slashed
Go to the National section
According to its website, PlanetSpace wants to send 2,000 people into suborbital space flights over five years, even though the company has not started accepting reservations for the $250,000 trips.
The company has estimated it will cost about $150-million to build a launch pad and rocket on its site in Nova Scotia. It's not clear how much money the company already has or where its funding comes from.
"There have only been about 450 astronauts in the history of man. PlanetSpace astronauts will be among the first civilians to make the voyage to space," the company's website said.
The $45-million investment in PlanetSpace would not be a federal subsidy, but it would be the direct result of federal approval of Lockheed Martin's mandatory plan to provide regional benefits from the aircraft sale.
The government treats regional benefits as a confidential matter, having so far refused to divulge the offsets flowing from the purchase of four Boeing C17s at the start of the year.
John Williamson of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation slammed the PlanetSpace project as silly and unlikely to succeed. "The government of Canada should be looking to buy these planes at the cheapest price possible, as opposed to having companies spend money needlessly in this country, which we'll be paying for directly or indirectly," he said.
Sources said that Lockheed Martin has met with PlanetSpace officials and confirmed that the project has been submitted to the government for approval as an industrial regional benefit.
"Whether [PlanetSpace] is approved as part of ... an IRB [Industrial and Regional Benefits] plan is up to Industry Canada," a source said.
Another source said PlanetSpace has already cleared a number of bureaucratic hurdles and will be seeking ministerial support in coming weeks.
The federal lobbyist registry confirmed that PlanetSpace has turned to Mr. Doucet, who was former prime minister Brian Mulroney's chief of staff and political troubleshooter, for help on the file.
Sources said Lockheed Martin is proposing to invest the money on Athena rockets that would propel the PlanetSpace craft into space, as well as ground equipment on the East Coast.
PlanetSpace chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria said he has been told not to comment on dealings with Lockheed Martin and the federal government.
"PlanetSpace, as a matter of policy, doesn't disclose ongoing government and competitive activities," he said.
A spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Business Inc. confirmed that the government agency is in discussions with PlanetSpace to provide land for the launch site. It was reported last year that NSB Inc. planned to provide 120 hectares of land for the project, but spokeswoman Sarah Levy said there are still many "moving parts" in the negotiations and that numbers are not final.
PlanetSpace also has a non-monetary agreement in place with NASA in a bid to "facilitate the commercialization of low-Earth orbit."
While a number of groups are working to send tourists into space, companies involved in the race have encountered a number of setbacks in recent years, and NASA is looking for new partners to work on the project.
