Industry Minister Jim Prentice said a sophisticated satellite set to launch into space in December will help "vigorously protect" Canada's Arctic sovereignty as worldwide interest in the region increases.
The Radarsat-2 is scheduled to launch Dec. 8 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It's billed as a "next generation" commercial satellite that will be carried into space by the Russians on board a Soyuz launch vehicle.
The Canadian government will immediately become one of the biggest users of the data to be collected by Radarsat-2. Satellite images will be used to monitor everything from border security to the size of the Arctic ice cap to deforestation in B.C.
"This has significant ramifications not only for our sovereignty as a country, for our capacity to observe and monitor shipping in the North and, in a general way, to serve Canadian sovereignty," said Prentice during a tour of the Canadian Space Agency David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa.
Radarsat-2 will zip around the Earth on a pole to pole orbit at an altitude of about 800 kilometres. It has an expected operational lifetime in space of about seven years. Its budget is about $600 million, which includes a $60 million launch fee.
"The satellite will travel around the Earth about 14 times a day. So it's speed is about seven kilometres a second. So it's very fast," said Luc Brule, Radarsat-2 program manager for the Canadian Space Agency.
Brule says the satellite also means Canada will have state-of-the-art eyes in the sky.
"In the case of an optical satellite, you need light and you need to make sure there are no clouds. If you have no light and there are clouds, you cannot see the ground. In the case of a satellite like this, it can see through clouds and it can work day and night," he said.
Radarsat-2 is being billed as a unique collaboration between the Canadian Space Agency and industry -- MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), the company behind the Canadarm, being the prime contractor.
Prentice said aside from providing critical data for the management and monitoring of natural resources, the Radarsat-2 will, in the event of a disaster, be an "indispensable tool to provide rescue and humanitarian aid to those most in need."
MDA will operate the satellite and ground segment, while the CSA is contributing funds for the construction and launch of the satellite. Other collaborating companies include EMS Technologies and Alenia.
With a report from CTV's David Akin in Ottawa
