Canada Global(Web News)The closing of a decades-old space technology laboratory in Ottawa is a shock to its workers but also a reflection of a changing industry, experts say. On Friday, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) confirmed that it will close the David Florida Laboratory (DFL) at the end of March 2025.
The laboratory officially opened in 1972 in the Shirley Bay complex near Carling Avenue on the city’s west side.
Work on Candarum, considered Canada’s most famous technological achievement in the field of robotics, and the guidance sensor for the James Webb Space Telescope, was carried out there.
Taylor Chamberlin, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa who researches technology and innovation management, said the news of the closures was “very disappointing.”
The facility has been critical to Canada’s space sector for more than 50 years, he said, adding
that a laboratory like DFL is valuable because it has space to lease to other companies and organizations, allowing those interested Allows firms to enter the expensive space industry.
Chamberlin added that the future of the space sector may seem abstract and unrelated, but it connects to other important sectors such as communications and defense.
