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2002 December Report of the Auditor General of Canada

December 2002 Report—Chapter 7

Appendix B—RADARSAT program—A brief history

The concept of a space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been the main focus of Canada's Earth Observation Remote Sensing Program since a 1975 report to Cabinet, Satellite and Sovereignty. In 1980, following early trials using data from NASA, the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) initiated preliminary technical and feasibility studies for the RADARSAT satellite, which would carry a remote sensing SAR.

The Synthetic Aperture Radar is a powerful microwave instrument that is able to transmit and receive signals through clouds, fog, smoke, and darkness and obtain high-quality images of the Earth in all weather.

In 1985, EMR submitted a proposal to Cabinet for a $770 million program that would include the United Kingdom and the United States as partners. Cabinet directed the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and the Minister of State for Science and Technology to seek ways of reducing the cost to the federal government through financial commitments from the provinces, the private sector, and international partners. In March 1988, the United Kingdom decided to withdraw from the program. The project was reconfigured and the costs reduced to $541 million between 1987 and 2000.

In March 1989, responsibility for the RADARSAT program was transferred by order-in-council to the new Canadian Space Agency. In June 1989, the Minister of State for Science and Technology was authorized to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United States partner agencies; Energy, Mines and Resources; Canadian provinces; and a private sector marketing and distribution organization.

In June 1994, Cabinet approved the Long-Term Space Plan II, which established Earth observation as a major thrust of the Canadian Space Program. The RADARSAT program brought Canada into the Earth observation business by providing operational and commercial services to users worldwide. The Space Plan directed the Agency to ensure the continuity of this service and to encourage increasing financial involvement by the private sector until the business is completely privatized.

Besides the commercial benefits, the government has a vital interest in the public-good aspects of RADARSAT for resource management, environmental monitoring, support for Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, and support to foreign and defence policy around the world.

RADARSAT-1 was launched successfully in November 1995 and began its commercial operations in April 1996. It had an operational life expectancy of 5 years, later extended by 2.5 years to September 2003. However, the launch of RADARSAT-2 is now not expected before early 2004. In 2001, the estimated cost of the RADARSAT-1 project was $678 million; revenues from the sale of data were estimated at $87.5 million.