Canada is a key partner in Astrosat

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Astrosat, Business, Canada, CSA, India, ISRO, News, PSLV, Science, Space, Telescope

“Congratulations ISRO! We’re happy to be on board,” the Canadian Space Agency tweeted Monday morning after India successfully launched a dedicated space observatory aimed at studying celestial objects.

The 1.5-tonne Astrosat was placed into orbit by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the Indian Space Research Organization said.

The PSLV also launched six foreign satellites, including a nanosatellite from the University of Toronto’s Space Flight Laboratory.

“This scientific satellite mission endeavours for a more detailed understanding of our universe,” ISRO said.

“Astrosat is designed to observe the universe in the visible, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum simultaneously with the help of its five payloads,” the space agency said.

One of those payloads, the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, was built in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency.

Dr. John Hutchings of the National Research Council Canada is the principal investigator for Canada’s contribution.

Hutchings co-led the development of the three Canadian detectors for the UVIT, CSA said.

“By exploring distant galaxies in ultraviolet light, we can study the formation and life cycle of galaxies, as well as star formation within galaxies. That’s one of the science drivers of this project,” it quoted Hutchings as saying.

Canada’s participation in Astrosat entitles Canadian scientists to observation time on the satellite, the agency said.

The PSLV is the workhorse of the Indian space program. It has launched 84 satellites since 1994, including 51 for customers abroad.

Images are courtesy of ISRO.

CS100: ‘The quietest in its class’

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Airbus, Airlines, Aviation, Boeing, Bombardier, Business, Canada, CS100, CS300, CSeries, EASA, Embraer, Environment, FAA, ICAO, News, Toronto, Tourism, Transport, Travel, TSB

The message was loud and clear as the all-new Bombardier CS100 made its Toronto debut Thursday: It’s the quietest aircraft in its class.

The company told a gathering of government officials and airline executives that the “aircraft’s noise performance and its outstanding short-field capability make it ideal for city centre operations.”

The CS100 is the smaller version in the CSeries and is on course for certification later this year.

The aircraft that debuted in Toronto was in the colours of launch customer SWISS, or Swiss International Air Lines, and is expected to make the first commercial flight before the middle of next year.

The CS100 can carry up to 125 people while the bigger version, the CS300, is meant for up to 160.

It is not the first time Bombardier is stressing the efficiency of the aircraft. Just before this year’s Paris Air Show, the company declared that the performance of the CSeries was “better than advertised.”

“We announced previously that the CSeries aircraft are exceeding their original targets for fuel burn, payload, range and airfield performance,” said Rob Dewar, vice-president of the program.

“Now we are delighted that the CS100 aircraft’s noise performance tests have confirmed it as the quietest in-production commercial jet in its class.”

The company said the first production CS100 will soon start function and reliability testing, signalling the start of the final flight testing phase.

“For these tests, the aircraft will operate on a commercial airline type of schedule from key airports in North America.”

In all, Bombardier has won 243 firm orders for the CSeries aircraft, 180 of them for the CS300.

No new orders were announced Thursday but Fred Cromer (above), president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, was very optimistic.

“The momentum continues to grow,” he said.

All images are by the author.