# CF's space plans



## MarkOttawa (3 May 2010)

Excerpts from an article in _Aviation Week and Space Technology_ (text subscriber only, some links added at this _Torch_ post
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2010/05/cfs-space-plans.html ) (Usual copyright disclaimer):

Milspace Expansion To Be Outlined In New Space Policy
Aviation Week & Space Technology Apr 26 , 2010 , p. 32

_Canada to add broadband and polar satcom capabilities, expand SAR constellation
Printed headline: Polar Plan_



> The Canadian Defense Department is poised to issue a new policy statement showing how the nation plans to expand its space presence to meet changing threats.
> 
> The existing policy, formulated in 1998, reflects requirements associated with the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war. The new document, expected to be issued in 30-60 days, will reflect more recent developments, such as the need for reinforcing Canada’s sovereignty in an era of global warming that is facilitating activity in the high arctic, and protecting space assets against potential hostile threats.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## Edward Campbell (19 Dec 2012)

After being threatened with fatal (for satellite surveillance capabilities) delays, it is now reported, in this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the _National Post_, that Prime Minister Harper has, personally, intervened to make RADARSAT Constellation Mission programme come to fruition:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/19/stephen-harper-steps-in-to-save-radarsat-upgrade-after-budget-cutbacks-threatened-satellite-programs-future/


> Stephen Harper steps in to save Radarsat upgrade after budget cutbacks threatened satellite program’s future
> 
> John Ivison
> 
> ...




Despite my general support for spending cuts, even for restraint in military spending, until we finish digging ourselves out from under the effects of the _Great Recession_, I am glad this has happened because:

1. We, Canada and the CF, need more and better spaced based surveillance, warning and control systems and this is a step (but just one small step) in the right direction; and

2. "Big science" needs stable, consistent funding over long periods.


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## The Bread Guy (9 Jan 2013)

> Federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis will be in Montreal on Wednesday to announce that the controversial RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) is going ahead.
> 
> There have been reports the projected costs of the three-satellite program have jumped to more than $1 billion from $600 million.
> 
> ...


The Canadian Press, 8 Jan 13


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## 57Chevy (26 Feb 2013)

Articles are shared with provisions of The Copyright Act

Canadian Forces put their 1st satellite in orbit
 CBC News 
By Max Paris, Environment Unit 25 Feb

Sapphire will act as air traffic controller for 20,000 pieces of space debris

Canada's military took a giant leap into the space game today with the launch of its first satellite from a pad in India.
Sapphire is a space vehicle about the size of a dishwasher that will act as an orbiting air traffic controller.

"It's better looking than a dishwasher," joked Canadian Brigadier-General Rick Pitre, director general of space, when asked by the CBC about the new satellite.

"In fact, it is interesting the analogy you provide, because it is about understanding the cleanliness of space," Pitre added.
Canadian Forces' first satellite, Sapphire, will act like an air traffic controller in orbit. (MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates)
Sapphire was built for the Canadian Forces by MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. It will be able to monitor every object bigger than 10 centimetres across that is circling the earth.

"I think understanding what's actually happening up in space is critical, and that's where Sapphire comes in," said Pitre.

The idea is to make sure that none of those 20,000 orbiting pieces — some junk, some multi-million-dollar satellites — bump into each other. Because at 35,000 km/h, a baseball-sized chunk of metal ramming a communications satellite can take down a nation's phone network.

"It will very likely destroy the spacecraft — make it explode into many, many other sub-pieces and then create more debris," explained Michel Doyon, flight operations manager at the Canadian Space Agency, one of the partners in Sapphire's launch.

Doyon said the problem of space junk got a lot worse in 2007. That was the year the Chinese decided to target one of their defunct weather satellites with a missile. The resulting explosion made thousands of pieces of orbiting debris — and headaches for space agencies around the world.

In 2009, a dead Russian satellite collided with an Iridium communications satellite creating a cloud of thousands of more hunks of metal.

"That's really changed how we do business here in the [Joint Space Operations Center]," Canadian Major Cameron Lowdon, chief of space situational awareness, told CBC News from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Vandenberg, Calif.

Canadians have been working with Americans at Vandenberg for decades. Now, the JSPOC has assumed the role of safety monitor for the world's space assets, Lowdon says.

He is in charge of a group that catalogues pieces of debris and each of their trajectories. When they see a possible collision in the making, they alert the owner of the satellite. Then the company or country has to decide what to do. In some cases, a satellite can be manoeuvred out of the way, while in others nothing can be done.

All about 'orbital safety'

"Orbital safety is what we're really trying to maintain here," Lowdon says.

Sapphire will complement a battery of ground-based observation stations. When the earth-bound monitors spot a possible collision, Sapphire will be able to take a picture of a dangerous piece of space junk unimpeded by the earth's atmosphere or weather systems.

With this piece of hardware, Canada has carved out a unique niche in the space-based surveillance world, said Lowdon. In the past, the Canadian Forces provided personnel for the effort but never a satellite. The U.S. also has a space-based debris monitoring satellite called Space Based Space Surveillance.

"We're going to be able to walk around here with a bit more pride on our shoulders, I suppose, as Canadians," Lowdon added.
                                      _______________________________________________________

Sapphire (Space Surveillance Mission of Canada)
 eoPortal Directory


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## a_majoor (27 Feb 2013)

Canadian industry and universities have a modest bank of experience with small satellites (the U of T built and launched a space telescope called MOST  in 2003, which is about the size of a barracks box), which the CF might tap into as well. 

Micro satellites can be built relatively cheaply (MOST cost $10 million), and if built on an assembly line, the low unit cost and high number of units which can be placed in orbit on a single launch (or spred out over multiple launches by piggybacking on launches of other satellites) can provide a high level of coverage. Small satellites are harder to observe, so there is a certain advantage against enemy ASAT technology. Large numbers of satellites working together can replicate, or in some instances surpass the performance of single large satellites (for example creating "virtual" antenna or mirrors from many disparate units with similar performance to a single unit with an aperture the diameter of the distance between the two outermost satellites in the array).

Here is an area where we have a distinct advantage, no reason we should be ignoring it.


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## MarkOttawa (20 Jun 2016)

Note capability to support Canadian Forces abroad:



> MDA gets $4.5-M contract in space-based maritime surveillance project
> 
> The Canadian government has awarded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Systems Ltd (MDA)
> http://mdacorporation.com/
> ...



The system's very high resolution will be three metres--scroll down to bottom here. 
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/radarsat/radarsat-tableau.asp

Very relevant:



> Not Much Noticed: Canadian Forces Intelligence Command (plus HUMINT)
> https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/mark-collins-not-much-noticed-canadian-forces-intelligence-command-plus-humint/



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (20 Jun 2016)

Intelligence vs ISR and resolution:
https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/mark-collins-radarsat-constellation-new-canadian-satellites-and-maritime-arctic-surveillance-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-17550

Mark
Ottawa


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