Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Friedmann, for appearing before this committee. It's not my regular committee, but I do have an interest in the issue.
I think your company is certainly to be commended for developing this technology. I do believe it is cutting edge, and it is going to serve whoever ends up with the product very well, I would think. I'm trusting it's going to be Canada in total, not just with the assets that are there but a lot of the intellectual property.
I'm curious about a couple of things. The satellite was constructed, and I actually saw the satellite just before it was sent up into space, not by NASA or the U.S., but by the Russians. Obviously there was some sort of concern that the Americans had. I've heard several reasons—one, it didn't fit on their rockets, and another, there was too much vibration—that Russia was chosen instead, because of their robust rocket system. But the Americans actually refused to launch it, and I'm curious as to why.