The Ottawa company received a multi-million dollar contract from the Canadian Space Agency, over four phases, to design the system for Astro-H, scheduled to launch in February 2014.
Only the design phase has been completed and the full value of the contract has not been negotiated, said Neptec president Iain Christie.
This is the first time Neptec has used its laser expertise for astronomy, but it also has three working systems that have been used for the shuttle and the International Space Station – not a bad percentage out of the six tested in space, Mr. Christie said.
"This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate what we're good at – building these kinds of systems," he added.
"It's less a case of wanting to repurpose the technology but continuing to develop our expertise."
Neptec just announced that its TriDAR docking system, which was tested on three shuttle flights, will form a key part of the Cygnus commercial supply spacecraft for the International Space Station. That will first fly in late 2011.
The company is doing field tests of its Juno rover, a relatively new area of expertise for the 20-year-old firm. The vehicle use's Neptec's laser technology to navigate rocks and hills.
But while those systems are used to map out obstacles or other spacecraft, the Astro-H system instead uses lasers to make sure the telescope is pointed in the right direction.
Through a series of mirrors, the lasers verify the telescope's position and allow it to peer down the barrel of black holes, galaxies and other sources of X-rays, providing clues into how the universe was formed.
The Canadian Space Agency often provides "pay-to-play" technology such as Neptec's to its partners to get access to the universe.
This is key given the country's space budget of $424.6 million this year, which includes stimulus spending that will taper off the budget to around $371.1 million next year.
By comparison, NASA's budget is around US$18.7 billion, the European Space Agency US$5.6 billion and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, US$2.24 billion in 2011.
In the case of the shuttle, providing the Canadarm and similar technology secured berths for Canada's astronauts to fly in space.
For this telescope, Canadian astronomers will get their pick of observing time on the orbiting observatory shortly after it's ready to go, remaining prime for about nine months.
Mr. Christie calls his firm's expertise unique in Canada, especially considering the company's size of just 120 employees. Worldwide competition comes from sections of Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co. and Astrium.
The shuttle's last flight in July brought "a great deal of nostalgia" for his firm, he said; the program used to generate 80 per cent of Neptec's revenues, money that has since been replaced by other work.
But Mr. Christie says he sees that program more as the first step of demonstrating what Neptec could do in space.
Neptec earned valuable flight experience in station docking and scanning for broken tiles underneath the shuttle, he says. Every new project, he added, is a way to bring that expertise forward.
"We still are a product of that experience. It really isn't about the technology we developed under the shuttle program; it's about how to do what other people just can't."
