The Canadian military might have trendy satellite tv for pc protection within the Arctic a decade sooner than envisioned if the federal authorities is keen to observe the instance of different nations and embrace industrial choices in space, a House of Commons committee heard Monday.
Mike Greenley, chief government officer of MDA Canada, told committee members Canada has fallen behind the remainder of the globe from “a military space capability perspective” and isn’t successfully working with corporations within the aerospace sector.
“As a result, our relevance in a rapidly changing geopolitical world is declining, and along with it, our ability to protect and defend Canadians,” stated Greenley, whose firm is the most important within the nation within the space sector, with over $1 billion in gross sales yearly.
One of the pressing issues going through defence officers is the nation’s quickly growing older chain of government-owned RADARSAT Constellation satellites.
The federal auditor basic warned in late 2022 that these satellites might outrun their helpful lifespan by 2026 and their alternative — often called the Defence Enhanced Surveillance from Space Project (DESSP) — is years away from getting off the bottom.
The Liberal authorities promised devoted military surveillance satellites in its 2017 defence coverage and repeated the pledge in its newest technique doc — however the defence division’s venture standing abstract reveals the multi-billion greenback program will not be set for launch till “beyond 2035.”
Greenley stated the United States and the United Kingdom have taken an method of constructing solely the space {hardware} they completely want, whereas shopping for the remaining from the private sector.
Canada wants to begin doing the identical to keep away from lengthy delays in deploying crucial military capabilities, he stated.
“Canada needs communications in the North, Canada has identified procurement spend to purchase space capability for communications in the North circa 2038,” Greenley stated.
“Meanwhile, Telesat will launch a global communication capability with satellites built by MDA Space in 2027. If we had a conversation today, it could potentially be configured to deliver military communications in the Arctic a decade faster as a commercial service — a decade faster.”
The Commons defence committee is conducting a research of how the altering geopolitical and military dynamics on earth are being mirrored in outer space.
Reports recommend Russia planning to put a nuke in orbit
Of explicit concern are experiences that Russia is planning to put in orbit a nuclear weapon designed to destroy satellites.
A prime U.S. State Department official told a Washington-based think-tank viewers final week that the Biden administration is frightened about one explicit program, which Moscow claims is just a scientific program to take a look at electronics.
“The United States is extremely concerned that Russia may be considering the incorporation of nuclear weapons into its counter-space programs, based on information deemed credible,” stated Mallory Stewart, who’s the assistant secretary of arms management, deterrence and stability.
She spoke on Friday on the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
“The United States has been aware of Russia’s pursuit of this sort of capability dating back years, but only recently have we been able to make a more precise assessment of their progress,” stated Stewart.
She went on to say that the potential will not be energetic and has not been deployed, however however “Russia’s pursuit of this capability is deeply troubling.
“There’s no imminent menace.”
Stewart’s remarks were echoed recently by Brig.-Gen. Mike Adamson, the commander of the recently established 3rd Canadian Space Division.
He said the reports are troubling and the Canadian military is working with the American Space Force and Space Command to understand the technology and its implications.
“We do not imagine in the meanwhile that there is any imminent menace,” Adamson told the Commons defence committee last week.
“It’s in all probability price stating as effectively [that] worldwide legislation prohibits the position of nuclear weapons in space. So this might be a direct violation of that and positively counter to accepted norms of behaviour that we might count on from any spacefaring nation.”
For the past seven years, the Canadian military has been looking for ways to protect its satellites from being shot down or disabled.
Prior to the specter of a nuclear system in space (which might severely disrupt and even destroy numerous satellites), western militaries had been focusing their consideration on ground-based rockets being developed by Russia and China to choose off key communications and command gadgets in orbit.