The Legault government has reinvested an unspecified sum in NorthStar Ciel et Terre, a company whose main shareholder is Charles Sirois, co-founder of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
Mathieu St-Amand, spokesman for the economy minister, could not say yesterday how much this new investment from Quebec was.
NorthStar Funding
The government support is part of a $48 million financing announced by NorthStar yesterday.
The round was led by New York-based firm Cartesian Capital. Other NorthStar shareholders also attended: the Sirois family, the Rogers family of Toronto and the Luxembourg government.
Already $38 million from governments
To date, taxpayers have invested at least $38 million in NorthStar: $26 million in 2018 (a sum that will be split equally between Quebec and Ottawa) and $12 million in 2021 (Quebec).
NorthStar bills itself as the first commercial company to monitor all low Earth orbits. It aims to make Montreal the “space control tower” with data that will allow satellite operators to better manage their fleets and avoid collisions.
If all goes according to plan, NorthStar’s first three UK-built satellites will be launched this year by Virgin Orbit, founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Last month, NorthStar and competitors received contracts from the US Department of Commerce for a pilot project to coordinate space travel.
NorthStar employs approximately 50 people at its offices in Montreal, Luxembourg and Virginia.
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