One of three new RADARSAT satellites being built at MDA’s Montreal lab. (Photo: Ossie Michelin)
Over a dozen government departments have given input on the types of data they will need, from maritime surveillance to disaster management to ecosystems monitoring. The satellites can track changes in sea ice, monitor for oil spills, keep an inventory of the entire nation’s crops, and even provide realtime data during a natural disaster.
“We have a large country, we are bordered by three coastlines, and it was impossible to monitor all of this through [previous] monitoring methods, especially since there are so few people living in the North,” says Iris. “Now we can do surveillance from space to monitor this big country that we have and better understand how it works.”
Making multiple daily passes over Canada, including the High Arctic and the Northwest Passage, the RCM is scheduled to orbit Earth for the next seven years, although Iris and his team are hoping the satellites will remain useful beyond the initial scope of the program.
“Based on our previous missions, these satellites really go beyond their planned lifetime,” he says, noting RADARSAT-1 was designed to last for five years and stayed operational in orbit for 17.
The RCM satellites will soon be trucked in pressurized, climate controlled transportation pods from Montreal to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where they will launch this November. After three to six months of fine tuning in orbit, the RCM will then begin its mission monitoring the country.