Canada’s Radarsat-1 experiences anomaly, may not recover
Radarsat-1, the oldest Earth observation satellite of Canada, has experienced a recent anomaly which might render the spacecraft unrecoverable. Due to the incident, the Canadian Space Agency put the satellite into “safe mode” to allow them to conduct an investigation. Operating for more than a decade now, the Canadian satellite is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar which enables Radarsat-1 to capture images of the Earth through clouds, smoke and haze. All information gathered by the satellite have been by government and commercial customers to help them track the effects of global climate change, as well as for resource and disaster management purposes. But due to the recent anomaly, the Canadian Space Agency decided to stop all order for new imagery, but continues to provide archived data. Thanks to Radarsat-2’s functionality, the space agency does not see any problems or possible impact on the country’s security. Unlike Radarsat-1 which is owned and operated by the Canadian government, Radarsat-2 is controlled by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). The company received partial funding for Radarsat-2’s production and launch through a signed agreement with the government. In exchange, MDA provides data to the government as long as the spacecraft is functional. The Canadian Space Agency is currently developing a new fleet of Radarsat satellites set to be launched in 2018. You may also want to read:
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