The Canadian Space Agency was founded in 1989, with the stated purpose of acting as agent and go-between for Canadian aerospace companies and their international partners and competitors. The Canadian Space Agency has no launch facilities and very few projects of its own; its primary function is economic and diplomatic. It does, however, oversee such activities and facilities as employment of Canadian astronauts, the David Florida Laboratory (a facility for spacecraft assembly and integration), and the management of Canadian contributions to the International Space Station.