The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has opened bidding for early definition work on two pathfinder satellites that would test new radar technology for RADARSAT+, Canada’s next-generation Earth observation system, one operating in the Ku band and the other in the X band.
The agency posted the solicitation of offers to CanadaBuys on Oct. 26, the opening day of the fourth National Earth Observation Forum, which ran through Wednesday at its John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Que. Bids close Dec. 7.
Two pathfinders, two radar bands
Both missions would carry synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which builds images by bouncing microwave pulses off the ground and works through cloud and darkness. The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), launched in 2019, and the RADARSAT satellites before it use the longer-wavelength C band.
Commercial radar constellations such as ICEYE and Capella Space fly X-band radar, whose shorter wavelength suits finer detail. Ku-band radars, shorter again, have measured sea level, ice and ocean winds from orbit for decades, but few satellites have used the band to make images. The CSA asked scientists in 2024 for ideas on a dual-frequency Ku-band radar built to measure snow across the country.
Winning bidders would help the CSA set system requirements, judge whether each mission is technically feasible, pick out the technologies still to be developed and plan how the missions would be carried out, according to the agency’s notice. The CanadaBuys listing calls the work the early definition phase of the RADARSAT+ Pathfinders missions.
From concept studies to pathfinder missions
Ottawa set aside $1.012 billion over 15 years for RADARSAT+ in October 2023, when then industry minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the portfolio at SpaceBound. It covers a replenishment satellite for the RCM and the definition of a system to succeed it.
C-CORE, Kepler Communications and MDA Space each received $747,000 in December 2025 for concept studies of the new system’s space segment, the satellites. In June, the CSA chose Calian, Kepler and MDA Space for concept studies of the ground segment, the control and data systems on Earth.
MDA Space also signed a $688-million contract in June to build and launch the replenishment satellite, which will fly with existing three RCM satellites. Those satellites were designed to last until 2026, though in reality they should last many years into the future, and the CSA says the replenishment satellite is meant to keep their radar data flowing without interruption.