Tag Archives: RADARSAT Constellation Mission

The RADARSAT Constellation mission is a Canadian government owned Earth Observation system with an initial three satellites whose primary instrument is a Synthetic Aperture Radar. The satellites are used for civil and defence purposes including:

 

– Maritime surveillance (ice, surface wind, oil pollution and ship monitoring);

– Disaster management (mitigation, warning, response and recovery); and

– Ecosystem monitoring (agriculture, wetlands, forestry and coastal change monitoring).

The Defence and Security Applications of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission

The first RCM satellite being transferred to the TVAC chamber at the David Florida Laboratory

This fall Canada’s RADARSAT Constellation Mission, a trio of synthetic aperture radar satellites, will launch 15 years after its conception. In that time there have been government imposed delays and a budget that has grown to over $1 billion. Eric Choi wrote the following article for Space Quarterly Magazine which was published in the March 2013 Canadian edition. It is still relevant today.

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Who Will Champion the Canadian Space Program?

Budget 2018

Tomorrow Finance Minister Bill Morneau will deliver the Liberal Party’s third budget since coming to power in October 2015. The space community awaits anxiously to see if this is the year a Canadian government steps up and supports the space program to a greater extent than it has.

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The Canadian Space Agency has Underspent its Budget for the Last 17 Years

Canadian Space Agency

In the last 17 years the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has left $802 million in planned spending unspent. In the last three years the CSA has underspent its budget by $201 million. In 2010 the Conservative government began the process of decreasing the CSA's base budget from $300 million to $260 million. The Liberal government has not restored the CSA's annual base budget funding cut. Add these points …

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