Mr. Speaker, I thank my B.C. colleague for the very timely and relevant question.
This morning not one but two satellites were successfully launched as part of an international effort. The Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite, NEOSSat, as well as Sapphire, are Canada's first dedicated operational military satellites. These are achievements that every Canadian can be proud of, proof that Canadian ingenuity and leadership in advanced space technology are indeed out of this world.
Canada's highly competitive aerospace and space industries are major contributors to our economy, and these milestones are two more examples of what our world-class Canadian companies can accomplish.