The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has received $111 million over five years in new funding to help pay for a new generation of remote sensing satellites. The CSA is planning to build a constellation of three smaller satellites to succeed the much larger Radarsat II, which is scheduled for launch next year.

The new funding for Radarsat III will start to flow next year beginning at $7 million in FY05-06 and ramping up to $36 million by FY09-10. It will be augmented by $89 million from the CSA’s A-base and is meant to cover the de-risking phase of the project, which has a total budget of approximately $600 million. The estimated launch date for Radarsat III is around 2012 to allow for overlap with Radarsat II which has a lifespan of approximately seven years.

“We’re delighted because we think we have some important technology that we can contribute, that industry can contribute and fulfill some important government objectives,” says CSA president Dr Marc Garneau. “We feel that it’s now time to move toward a constellation because they provide a more frequent revisit time over Canada and that is critically important for us.”

The users of Radarsat III’s data and monitoring capabilities cover a wide spectrum, from the environment, natural resource management and sustainable development to security and sovereignty. The satellites will be able to transmit data in all weather conditions in a more comprehensive form than is currently possible. But Garneau notes that moving from a large satellite to three smaller ones does involve a trade off in capability, hence the crucial technology validation phase over the next three years

At this point, the satellite constellation is being planned as a publicly funded project, although Garneau says that could change as initial milestones are achieved. But whether other countries or companies participate or not, additional government funding will be required.

“Once we are in a better position to know if we have retired the risk and feel confident, we will request the remainder of the fund,” he says, adding that some of that money will be drawn from CSA’s A-base.

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