The world's space industry gathered in Toronto this week with one main message for the world: the sky is no longer the limit.
Space exploration was a major hive of innovation and investment since humans first started putting satellites into orbit more than 50 years ago. But in recent years, after the "space race" petered out, there has been a lull as cash-strapped governments shied away from multibillion-dollar launches with little more than nebulous symbolism to show for them.
Lately, the focus has moved to the private sector, where there's booming demand — and money to be made. Elon Musk's company SpaceX was front and centre at the International Astronautical Conference in Toronto this week, fresh off winning a $2.6-billion contract to ferry NASA astronauts to the ISS.
Neil Armstrong famously described his first steps on the moon as one small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind. But as SpaceX`s Justin Wallace told the CBC`s Peter Armstrong this week, the company's leading the charge to take several steps beyond that. "We're going to reduce the cost of launches and make space more accessible," he said.
The company says it can bring the $1.5-billion price tag for a space launch down to as little as a tenth of that. All while keeping an eye on safety, and increasing the private sector's involvement. Considering that close to 400 human-made satellites are set to blast off from earth this year, it's clear they're on to something.
Space isn't the only thing getting pricey
Closer to home, weary globetrotters got some bad news about sky-high travel costs: checked bag fees. The CBC's Sophia Harris reported this week that all Canada's major air carriers announced plans to start charging $25 to check a bag on domestic economy travel.
When faced with a new fee, many travellers follow the natural reaction, which is to avoid checking a bag in the first place and travel with carry-on. But Sophia's very well-read story this week showed the airlines are cracking down on carry-on bag sizes. That's leading to chaos in departure terminals, and people scrambling to get what they feel is their share of shrinking overhead luggage space.
"It's going to make it more uncomfortable for everybody," was how one Charlottetown passenger bluntly put it.
Analysts say the new fees could add up to millions in extra revenue for the airlines every year. But it may cost them in customer complaints, not to mention new delays as overworked gate agents have to start scanning all bags to make sure they fit.
No matter what happens, nickel-and-diming passengers is sure looking like a new reality for air travel. As Don Pittis put it in these very pages recently, our obsession with lower airfare ticket prices are masking the true costs of flying.
4th wireless carrier not worth it?
Another Canadian industry that's frequently a thorn in the side of Canadian consumers was also in the news this week, as Telus was asking Canada's telecom regulator to stop meddling in wireless markets and trying to force a fourth national carrier the company says would be bad for everybody.
Telus told the CRTC this week that the regulator needs to be careful with tinkering too much in Canada's cellphone market, which it says is the envy of the world.
"Canada's wireless networks are among the fastest and most reliable in the world," Telus president and CEO Joe Natale told the CRTC on Wednesday.
That may not be the first description that leaps to mind when cellphone users examine their bills, which have been documented on numerous international rankings as among the highest in the world. It's why Ottawa's targeted the creation of a fourth major national wireless company as a key priority — one that's so far not been met.
Telus — which, it's fair to note, has a pretty large incentive to maintain the status quo — says a fourth wireless player would possibly drag prices lower, but come at the expense of service quality. And on that front, the company said, Canadians don't know how good they have it, precisely because the incumbents have invested far more heavily in their networks than other countries do.
(Try to remember that world-renowned customer service the next time you make the mistake of checking your email on your phone outside Canada.)
Netflix takes on Hollywood
This week the CRTC was looking into wireless carriers. But it was just last week that we told you about the regulator's other big project: online streaming.
On that front, the 800-pound gorilla in the space, Netflix, was again making waves this week, by announcing it had made its first-ever deal to produce a feature length film. The streaming content company has won the rights to the sequel to 2001's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
It's something of a watershed moment for the company, which has been horning in on the content creation beat for a while now, with Emmy-nominated televisions series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
But the company didn't stop with one movie. The next day, Netflix announced a four-picture deal with comedian Adam Sandler.
(No word yet on whether Happy Gilmore 2: The Empire Strikes Back is in the works — but if you're reading, Netflix executives, I have a script ready.)
Those were just some of our most-read business stories this week. Be sure to check our website often for more, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter here.
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