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CTV Winnipeg: Manitoba engineer helping to build alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink

Fiona Odlum — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:33:13 +0000

A University of Manitoba professor is a part of a team hard at work creating a Canadian satellite alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink network.

Philip Ferguson, an associate professor in the university’s mechanical engineering department, is helping develop the technology at Telesat.

The Ottawa-based company hopes to build a 200-satellite network to support Canada, so those relying on Musk’s Starlink can cut the cord with that company.

To read and watch the entire story, please follow the link to CTV Winnipeg.

Professor Ferguson was also featured in the Winnipeg Free Press, please follow the link to the Free Press.

And on CBC Manitoba’s Up to Speed.

The Canadian Press: Ottawa’s $2B loan for satellites has Tories calling for Elon Musk to step in

Fiona Odlum — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 20:17:31 +0000

James Fergusson, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, said Musk is “a Trump guy” who has “said things which conflict with American foreign policy as it now exists.”

But he pointed out the U.S. Defence Department uses SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company.

“To the Americans, he’s not a security problem.”

To read the full story, please visit The National Post.

CTV Winnipeg: U of M developing drone airships to improve connectivity in the Arctic

Fiona Odlum — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 20:45:36 +0000

The University of Manitoba has launched a new project to find unconventional and innovative ways to bring internet access to the Arctic.

The project is called ‘Arctic Community Connectivity for Equity, Sustainability and Service’ (ACCESS). The goal of the initiative is to find solutions to improve connectivity in Canada’s north by creating a drone airship that will act as a satellite communications hub.

This will improve safety for hunters and researchers, as well as search and rescue teams in remote areas.

“This is us responding to the needs that we’ve heard with our Indigenous and Inuit collaborators and researchers that are saying they need better connectivity to support hunters and trappers on the ice, and search and rescue,” said Philip Ferguson, a U of M engineering professor who is leading the project.