Magellan, University of Manitoba launching joint satellite facility

WINNIPEG—Construction is set to launch next month on a new satellite assembly facility in Winnipeg that will be shared by Magellan Aerospace Corp. and the University of Manitoba.

Mississauga, Ont.-based Magellan will invest $2 million in the 6,000 sq.ft. advanced satellite integration facility (ASIF) slated for construction on Magellan’s existing site in the Manitoba capital.

The ASIF will be jointly operated by Magellan and the university, and will used as an innovation hub where industry and academia will work together in the research, development, construction and testing of satellite buses and components.

According to Magellan, the facility will be large enough to house the simultaneous assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of three satellite buses.

Magellan’s $2-million investment in the project will go towards construction of the facility and multi-year program funding, including the establishment of an industrial research chair in the area of satellite development within the engineering school at the University of Manitoba.

“This partnership between the University of Manitoba and Magellan is the kind of relationship that was identified in the Emerson Report of 2012 as the model industry, research (and) cooperation that is a vital component of growing Canada’s space technology development,” Don Boitson, vice-president and general manager of Magellan’s Winnipeg operations, said in a statement.

The federal government is investing $2.4 million in the project through Western Economic Diversification Canada.

“The funding for ASIF demonstrates a commitment to turning investment in knowledge and technology into an advantage for developing Canada’s space industry globally,” Magellan’s Boitson said.

Construction of the facility is set to finish next month.

The program is expected to be up and running by mid- to late 2015.