Focus on Europe and Canada

Home , Canadian Space Agency, David Florida Laboratory, Mobile Servicing System

BR-160 June 2000

Europe and Canada Partners in Space Text: Mark Burbidge & Jason Clement, CSA

Published by: ESA Publications Division ESTEC, PO Box 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Editors: Gilles Leclerc & Bruce Battrick

Design & Layout: Carel Haakman

Graphics: Willem Versteeg

Illustrations: Industry Canada/Communications Research Centre Institut national d'optique Kinetic Sciences Inc. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. Canadian Embassy, Paris/Jean-Bernard Poree

Europe and Canada Partners in Space

European Space Agency Canadian Space Agency n the 21st Century, space has become a truly international (ESA) comes into effect in 2000, this venture. No single country can absorb the full risk of cooperation promises to reach new Ideveloping new technologies for this most demanding heights. environment. Moreover, many of the benefits of space programmes also cross political boundaries, as essential The nations of Europe, like Canada and knowledge gained from space-based Earth observation helps other space-faring nations, see Ariane-5 humanity deal with global environmental challenges, and unlimited potential for future growth of global satellite-based services such as multimedia the knowledge-based economy through space ventures. In communications and navigation enter our daily lives. Europe, ESA has created a European space programme Rosetta with great depth and capability beyond the reach of The Canadian and European space programmes provide an individual Member States, from launch to orbital outstanding model for this international cooperation, proving facilities, to deep-space probes. It has 15 that the whole can indeed be much greater than the sum Member States (including Canada, as a of its parts. Since 1978, a far-reaching Cooperating State), a budget equivalent to cooperation agreement has brought C$ 5.7 billion and some 1700 employees (1999 significant benefits to both sides of the figures). Canada’s cooperating membership Atlantic, including the development of key brings additional financial resources and advanced technologies for both space programmes, technological capabilities to European programmes, the creation of alliances between space while Europe provides partners with capabilities that are companies, and greater returns on the essential to fulfilling Canadian Space Programme goals. investments. As a further 10-year agreement between the Government of Canada’s geographic and demographic imperatives (surface Canada and the European Space Agency area triple that of all ESA Member States combined, and The 1978 Agreement

2 1/12 th of the population), make it relationship with ESA. Other aspects of Europe–Canada one of the World’s largest users of cooperation in space include a science and technology space systems and services, for such cooperation agreement between the European Union (EU) applications as communications, and Canada under which Canadian companies and search and rescue, navigation, organizations partner with Europeans and participate in the resource management, surveillance EU’s Research and Technology Development Framework and environmental monitoring to Programme. There are also numerous bilateral cooperation name just a few. Canada was the projects between some of the ESA Member States and Canada Alouette-I third nation after Russia and the USA in space science and technology development. to enter the space age, with the 1962 launch of Alouette-I. Today, it maintains an active astronaut office, as well as long- Europe and Canada are standing activities in space science (notably in atmospheric partners, along with the research, astronomy, space environment, microgravity and USA, Japan and Russia, in space medicine) and space technology the International Space research and development. Canada’s Station (ISS) project. The ISS, national investment ranks seventh the largest-ever cooperative among space-faring nations, and venture in science and Canada’s space industry earned $ 1.4 technology, is the next billion in revenues in 1999, of which great step in establishing a over 40% was from exports. human presence in space. International Space Station (ISS) ESA’s primary contribution is the Columbus laboratory, while Canada and the Canadian space Canada is drawing upon its expertise in space robotics to industry have actively participated in supply the Space Station’s Mobile Servicing System (MSS). The many ESA programmes, especially MSS will be used to assemble and maintain the ISS over the in satellite communications, Earth course of its lifetime in orbit. observation, and generic space- technology development. Canada participates directly in ESA programmes, activities and decision-making, and Canadian companies bid for and receive contracts on the same basis as their European counterparts. No other non-European country has such a Olympus at the David Florida Laboratory ISS Columbus laboratory ISS Mobile Servicing System

3 hile many aspects of satellite communications have become fully W commercial, space agencies have a vital role in developing new capabilities and applications. In this role, CSA and ESA are cooperating to achieve the greatest results from their respective investments. Meanwhile, Canadian and European satellite communications companies have developed important partnerships in many areas.

Cooperation between Canada and Europe in this field dates back to the early 1970s, when ESA’s fore- runner, the European Space Research Organisation Hermes-CTS (ESRO), provided critical elements for Canada’s Hermes-CTS satellite. This satellite, the first to operate in the Ku- third largest participant, with involvement in the solar array, band, opened the way to a variety of direct-broadcasting assembly integration and testing, payload amplifiers and applications. Canada’s David Florida Laboratory (DFL), microwave components. Final assembly and testing was established in 1972 to integrate and test the Hermes satellite, performed at DFL. is now active in international space markets as a commercial spacecraft testing service. In the 21st Century, Canada and Europe are working together to develop a range of key satellite-communications The Olympus programme was initiated by ESA in 1978, technologies. For example, more efficient on-board antenna building on CTS/Hermes and Canada’s Anik-B. Canada was the systems will make satellites more energy-efficient. Digital and

4 advanced transmission techniques, including the V-, Ka- and Ku-bands, provide greater capacity to handle the vast amounts of data required for multimedia applications.

Inter-satellite links are another important field of cooperation between Canada and Europe. In this field, the Institut national d’optique (INO) of Quebec City is working under a series of contracts from ESA to develop optical communications for high-speed data transfer between geostationary satellites, which could provide an alternative to terrestrial fibre-optic systems. INO has developed a transmitter for short-distance inter-satellite optical communications and a power fibre amplifier capable of operating in space. Galileo will be an open, global system. Based on Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Galileo is Europe’s proposed global navigation satellite system. satellites, it will be developed as a This civilian system will be compatible with existing public–private partnership, with funding American (GPS) and Russian (GLONASS) military-based from the EU and ESA. Canada is systems, which have begun a revolution in participating in the definition of the ESA-led navigation practices around the World. space segment of Galileo called ‘GalileoSat’. As a fully civilian system, backed by Canadian companies like EMS Technologies, adequate service guarantees and a COMDEV and CAE are currently involved in legal framework to support the full the definition phase, and NovAtel of range of civilian uses, Galileo will open Calgary is working with RACAL of the UK on wider possibilities for using satellite the European Geostationary Navigation navigation. It will direct air and sea Overlay Service (EGNOS). movements, cut traffic congestion by routing cars and trucks more efficiently, and find many other applications in farming, fishing, crime prevention, infrastructure planning, mineral exploration and land surveying. GalileoSat

5 he view of Earth from space may not show environmental concerns, matches political boundaries, but other information Canada’s interest in using remote- T vital to human existence comes clearly into sensing activities to monitor and focus: from crop conditions to the spread of oil protect our global environment spills, from iceberg movements to ground and climate. For example, it has subsidence. Earth-observation satellites have also provided close monitoring of the become indispensable in monitoring crucial El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific changes in the Earth’s environment and climate. Ocean, which affects weather around the globe. It has been particularly active in the In Earth observation, Canada and Europe have development of the ground segment and worked together for decades to advance the state microwave hardware. of the art, particularly in the development of radar satellites and the commercial application of satellite The SAR technology developed and acquired data to meet a wide range of human needs. in this programme, and the experience gained in the reception, processing and use of Earth observation has been a focal point for the ERS-1 and ERS-2 data, in turn, facilitated the Canadian Space Programme from the very development and operation of Radarsat-1. beginning. The concept of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) was developed in Canada, with the Radarsat-1, developed and operated by the first digital SAR image from space being produced Canadian Space Agency, is Canada’s first Earth- in 1978. Canada brought this experience into observation satellite and the World’s first ESA’s European Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS) operational commercial SAR system. Launched in programme. The ERS mission, which focuses on November 1995, it provides all-weather, day-and-

6 Radarsat-1

night imagery for very fast British Columbia, is building delivery to customers this lighter, cheaper satellite around the World. Radarsat- that improves on Radarsat-1 1 can acquire images in with new modes, higher variable modes of ground resolution, multi-polarisation, resolution, coverage swaths, more frequent revisits and an and incident radar-beam increased downlink margin, angles. Different beam selections allow for the imaging of a which allows lower-cost receiving systems. swath from 35 to 500 kilometres, with resolutions from 10 to 100 metres, respectively. Incidence angles range from less than Further plans for wide-ranging cooperation with ESA in

20 degrees to more than 50 degrees. Radarsat are under discussion, including the possibility of a ERS-1 joint venture between Canada and Europe for Radarsat-3. Radarsat-1's capabilities are fully proven in vital applications Canada will be an active participant in many missions of ESA’s such as ice tracking, cartography (including the first complete Living Planet programme, a major Earth-observation effort over map of Antarctica), geological exploration, maritime the coming years focussing on increasingly urgent surveillance, disaster relief, agriculture and forest monitoring, environmental and climatological needs. Canada shares many etc. Radarsat-1 is the primary source of images for a of ESA’s objectives for this programme, such as Canadian remote-sensing industry that has won some studying the Earth’s gravity field, ocean 12% of the global market for Earth-observation data. circulation, atmosphere dynamics, and ice cover. Working with ESA will also provide Canada is now preparing a follow-on satellite, opportunities to further develop Canadian Radarsat-2, a state-of-the art space venture involving capabilities in fields such as multi-band SAR the public and private sectors. A Canadian industry and hyper-spectral imaging. team led by MacDonald Dettwiler MDA of Richmond,

Radarsat-2 7 the stream of radar images is unaffected.

Reliable information for natural-disaster management The Radarsat system has proved its ability to provide Sea-surface temperatures, from ERS reliable, rapid delivery of In 2000, Envisat, Europe’s largest and most sophisticated satellite images and updates satellite to date, is following up the two ERS missions with an that meet the urgent needs of ambitious Earth-observation mission. Its package of 10 civil authorities dealing with instruments has combined capabilities natural disasters around the World. Whether it be rivers greater than those of any previous or overflowing in Québec and Manitoba, an earthquake in Italy, planned Earth-observation satellite. or a cruise ship threatened by Arctic ice, Radarsat consistently Canada’s participation in this mission provides the most timely and reliable source of essential includes a project by ABB Bomem, of information for officials responsible for disaster management. Quebec City, to simulate and validate the MIPAS instrument for measuring When the Russian oil tanker ‘Hakhoda’ ran aground in a storm trace elements in the atmosphere. near Japan in 1997, causing the worst oil spill in that country’s history, Radarsat images allowed Japanese authorities to clearly Radar satellites provide new levels identify the location and extent of of marine safety the spill, vastly facilitating clean-up

Today, as ice floes drift into North operations and dealing with the Envisat AtlanticMIPAS shipping lanes, the Canadian Ice Service of potential threat caused by the spill Environment Canada tracks them from space using Radarsat. to the intake of a nuclear power Until recently, a vastly more costly and less effective, and at plant. times more dangerous, system of air surveillance was needed to provide this vital support for safe marine transportation. The Centre has saved some $ 7 million per year in the switch to satellite imaging, while improving its capabilities to provide unprecedented levels of precision and reliability. Radar satellites make this possible. In heavy weather, when visibility closes in, and the need for close tracking becomes even more urgent,

8 From deep space to cold oceans to forest fires Saskatchewan. SED Systems, which has been providing Space technologies are advancing rapidly, though TT&C systems for nearly 20 years, is building on its the process is not easy. It requires investigation of core technologies to meet the challenge of promising concepts, and investment to bring them to communicating reliably with a spacecraft that will the point where they can be effectively evaluated. travel up to 900 million kilometres from Earth (a Not all ideas succeed and so there is considerable distance that signals take 100 minutes to travel at financial risk attached. Cooperation between Canada the speed of light). This antenna will also be used for and Europe helps to share that risk, and pool future missions to Mars. resources to achieve the maximum possible progress. Adapting space technologies for harsh terrestrial A few examples of this environments cooperation follow. Technologies developed for operations in the unforgiving environment of space can have valuable applications in harsh Tracking Rosetta through deep aa environments on Earth. In Newfoundland, C-CORE, an space independently funded engineering research and development ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft will be corporation affiliated with Memorial University, adapts space launched in 2003 on a 10-year mission technologies such as smart robotics and sensors, advanced to study Comet Wirtanen and two materials, satellite-based remote sensing, advanced asteroids. Throughout its mission, its communications, and control and power systems for use in Telemetry, Tracking & Control (TT&C) harsh environments. These environments, such as cold oceans, will depend on the performance of a Arctic, Antarctic, underground and undersea locations, are of 35-metre antenna built by an industrial growing interest to resource industries, but present great team led by SED Systems of Saskatoon, challenges to operations. Rosetta

9 This unprecedented initiative is which aims to design, implement attracting significant matching and test an innovative approach funds from the private sector. C- to telerobotics for interventions in CORE is building on a successful harsh environments. The focus launch of the Harsh Environments application for the development Initiative, which involved 14 is the supervisory control of European and 33 Canadian multiple mining robots. This project includes R&D in the areas companies in eight demonstration of interactive 3D sensing, enhanced perception, intelligent projects. For example, PetroGraFx is mediation, and intelligent control. a collaboration with Hibernia Management and Development Fighting forest fires with help from space Company Ltd. (HMDC) to develop a In managing emergency situations, for example the fighting of software tool to carry out automated analysis and database forest fires in British Columbia, real-time communications are management of core and thin-section images. These images crucial to connect command centres with the entire operation are collected from core samples taken during exploration and over the affected region, including helicopters, vehicles, heavy drilling. The tool will allow the accurate analysis of fire-fighting equipment, and handheld terminals. petrographic images in terms of important visual characteristics, such as porosity, mineral content, and shape ESA’s REMSAT (REal-time Management of emergency situations and size distributions. Another project, SMART (Sensori-Motor via SATellite) programme bridges the gap between satellite Augmented Reality for Telerobotics), is an IRIS/PRECARN project service providers and emergency management end-users, to offer a powerful network that brings together telecom- Augmented Reality Telerobotic Control Concept munications, positioning, and Earth observation.

REMSAT’s capabilities were successfully demonstrated in British Columbia in September 1999. Under an ESA contract, MDA – a company with extensive expertise in space-based operations and transportable equipment – teamed up with the British Columbia Forest Service, which has the responsibility for fighting forest fires, protecting communities and timber resources in an area of over one million square kilometres. The Service deals with over 3000 fires per year, and is internationally recognized for its emergency-management The SMART concept operations.

10 REMSAT can access a variety of satellite systems currently available. During the 19-day fire simulation, positioning functions were provided by GPS, messaging by the Orbcomm satellite system, and low/high-data-rate voice and video services by the Canadian satellite system Anik. This included high-speed communications for fire-fighting crews, augmented data and video images, and up-to-date position and status information for all resources (including aircraft, heavy equipment and fire crews). It supported fire attack planning, while providing high-speed communication between mobile REMSAT in action in British Columbia fire-control centres and additional background information to help in fire modelling, prediction and suppression. Arrangements are under way for the system to be fully tested through deployment to fight a major fire.

REMSAT can also be adapted to meet the needs of many other types of emergencies, such as earthquakes, floods, exceptionally severe winter conditions, and those involving hazardous materials. MDA has been working with emergency and disaster-management agencies in Canada, the USA, Mexico and Europe to supply REMSAT-based disaster-management systems.

11 While Canada and the countries of Europe share a conviction programmes have led to numerous that space offers unlimited prospects for the future, they other commercial opportunities for recognize the fundamental need to spread risk and financial Canadian industry. Canadian burdens as widely as possible, to obtain the involvement in ESA projects has maximum leverage for their investments in helped Canadian space projects such space. Also, since diverse expertise and as Radarsat and the Anik series of experience is required for success in space communications satellites. programmes, international cooperation allows each party to focus on developing specialities in The European partners were also convinced that cooperation areas of greatest interest. with Canada had brought similar benefits to Europe. Canada’s worldwide lead in certain technologies has also been of Space-derived fingerprint reader (Kinetic Services Inc.) Experience suggests that the cooperation benefit to ESA, to which Canadian industry brings a strong between Canada and Europe has been beneficial to both technology base. Also, when working as partners in ESA sides, and studies have borne this out. In 1996, CSA com- programmes, Canadian and European companies have missioned a complete external evaluation of learned much about their respective management practices Canada’s cooperation with ESA since 1978, and business cultures, and have developed numerous close which showed that Canada’s objectives for commercial partnerships. this relationship have been achieved. Canadian investments in ESA have resulted In summary, Canada and Europe have similar objectives for Anik-D in significant direct contracts to Canadian international cooperation: to diversify and reinforce their roles companies and follow-on spin-off sales, in space, and to foster closer collaboration in science and promoting the development of the industry technology research. They seek to develop and demonstrate as a whole. Corporate alliances for the ESA advanced systems and technologies by participating in large

Flameproof textiles from Ariane, in Toronto’s Skydome space projects on a cost-sharing basis, and to support the competitiveness of their space industries through alliances and two-way technology transfers between Europe and Canada.

ESA and CSA mission objectives are almost identical. Both have a mission to promote the development of space science and technology for exclusively peaceful purposes. Both agencies seek to promote the competitiveness and success of their industries through technology development programmes and innovative and flexible funding mechanisms. Cooperation has brought substantial socio-economic benefits on both sides of the Atlantic, and strengthened the bonds between Canada and Europe in critical areas of science and technology. Increasingly, this inter-agency cooperation is now complemented by strong commercial partnerships between Canadian and European space companies.

Looking to the future, space cooperation between Canada and ESA promises to continue to be mutually beneficial and productive, resulting in solid benefits for both Canada and Europe while providing benefits for all humanity – benefits that transcend all borders.

ESA Head Office, Paris

13 Vancouver B.C., from ERS