Vanguard Magazine

38 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com ships between big (foreign, as well) and small companies and academia. VanWyn Aerospace Logistics, a Hamil- ton-based aerospace company, is develop- ing a high-altitude platform for aerospace, global telecommunication and defence. This technology intends to reduce cost, complexity and risk for all observation and transmission services that would otherwise be provided by space satellites or UAVs. The VanWyn "Sitallite" is a craft capable of maintaining a stable position in the sky at high-altitude for indefinite periods. This new platform will provide observation and transmission over a vast range of coverage (1,100 km) and carry any desired combi- nation of instruments for services includ- ing, C4ISR, border patrol, missile detec- tion, search and rescue, and emergency communication restoration. Erinn van Wynsberghe, Founder & Prin- cipal of VanWyn Aerospace Logistics, de- scribes VanWyn's technology as innovative because it offers vastly increased "every- thing" including more power, more pay- load, larger range of coverage, farther field of view, as well as new capabilities such as autonomy from foreign satellites, persistent surveillance (as long as desired), the abil- ity to fill gaps in existing service coverage and be positioned over any operating the- atre including extreme environments, quick deployment and discretion, being naked to the eye and silent above cloud altitude. "Flight control, information gathering and analysis can be conducted instanta- neously from a remote location or ship, without the need for any additional front- line personnel presence," he said. "The technology offers immediate communica- tion and information linkage to any operat- ing base or patrol group through as little as a hand-held device, allowing field units to operate without the need to dismantle, transport or reconnect ground equipment, or maintain fully-operational support, both when stationary and when on the move." An SME based in Kelowna, BC, that technology WatCh ViaSat-3 World Coverage, Viasat "Many industry partners are engaging the Canadian government to come up with a space strategy to foster innovation and collaboration for various technologies, with surveillance being a major focus." most Canadians wouldn't know about but that is doing incredibly fascinating work, is Skytrac. I spoke to Stephen Sorocky, the former CEO of SkyTrac Systems Ltd, and he explained how their tech worked: "At Skytrac Systems, we used GPS and Satcom to track aircraft worldwide. Initially, the focus was to place 'dots on a map' to en- able operators to track the location of their assets and to comply with regulatory re- quirements. Over time, we developed ser- vices which monitored not only where the aircraft was, but also how it was flying and collected aircraft data to support mainte- nance. As more and more data is collected, analytics are developed to improve safety and operational efficiency." Another SME I came across years ago, is Resson Aerospace, which is a New Brunswick based SME that has developed predictive data analytics technology for agriculture that goes beyond satellite and drone imagery to enable growers to lever- age their field data to make more informed decisions and increase productivity. They look like giant hot air balloons in the air providing surveillance capabilities. Again, it is all about the data. Meanwhile, also on the Atlantic, St. John's-based PAL Aerospace received $5M in federal support on December 11, 2017, for its Force Multiplier aircraft. The company will add the modified Dash-8 to

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