Space Symposium attendees remain optimistic but there's a touch of uncertainty

The 40th Space Symposium was its usual chaotic self with many of the approximate 15,000 attendees saying it was business as usual. However, underlying the positive sentiment for some was a touch of uncertainty.

How you perceived the Space Symposium and its ambitious agenda depended in part on from where you came from. Americans were the most optimistic while some foreigners were apprehensive travelling to the event and were more likely to report a sense of uncertainty of what the new U.S. government would do next.

For Canadians it also depended who you represented and how your supply chain was set up.

SpaceQ was aware of at least 25 Canadian companies at this years event, a good turnout. Some of these were represented at the Canadian Space Community booth area, while others including MDA Space had their own booths. The list of Canadian companies is below.

What was different was that the overall Canadian government representation was down with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) only sending a handful of executives. This meant the CSA stand at the Canadian Space Community booth had no one there for portions of the event. In fact during the Space Symposium I ran into more people from the Department of National Defence than the CSA.

With MDA Space’s recent growth spurt it should not have come as a surprise that their booth would draw some attention. However, having a full size prototype rover from the Lunar Dawn team, which MDA Space is partner, on exhibit with a robotic arm, really did get a lot of attention.

Each year the Consulate General of Canada in Denver hosts a Canadian reception on the Wednesday at 6 pm that is well attended. This year was no exception. What was a little different were the introduction remarks by Brigadier-General Christopher Horner, Commander, 3 Canadian Space Division. Watch the video below for to see how he energized those gathered and set the tone for the rest of the reception.