Selling Canadian Earth Observation Technology to U.S. Arms Maker

This is the final post in my series about RADARSAT-2. Thus far, I’ve looked at the history of the satellite, the relevant Canadian Arctic Sovereignty issues, and the military potential of the satellite.

The importance of the satellite to the interests of Canada can not be overstated. It is commonly recognized as the crown jewel of Canada’s domestic space technology industry and NASA said it made Canada “world renowned.” Yet after having been in operation for less than a month it was almost sold to Alliant Techsystems (ATK), a U.S. aerospace and defence company, and the largest ammunition manufacturing entity in the world.

RADARSAT-2 was launched on December 14th of 2007 by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) in partnership with the Government of Canada. On January 8th of 2008 ATK announced they had “negotiated definitive agreements” with MDA “to acquire its Information Systems and Geospatial Information systems for $1.325 billion CAD.” The announcement was met with outrage in Canada from politicians to scientists to labor leaders. Even Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, spoke out against the selling of the satellite saying, “We lead the world in this technology” and the proposed sale “threatens Canada’s sovereignty.”

The main concern presented by critics, besides the loss of home-developed technology, was the potential reversal of the terms for Canadian tax payer investment in the project – namely ’shutter control’ – once ATK took over. As Liberal MP Scott Brison and Michael Byers pointed out in a National Post article, “… shutter control and priority access is now at stake. Once the satellite is sold to Alliant Techsystems, Ottawa will lose the ability to control the satellite and commandeer it in emergencies. And the equipment could then be used in ways that contradict our interests: suppose that the United States sends a ship into the Northwest Passage without Canada’s consent, relying on RADARSAT-2 imagery and, perhaps, denying us access to it?”

MDA President Daniel Friedman told the House of Commons industry committee that Ottawa will have access to the imagery data as stipulated in the contract. But once the satellite was in the hands of the U.S. what would stop them from claiming “national security” as a reason not to provide Canada with the data, or using it for purposes contrary to the interests and policies of Canada? And there is no dispute that the future generations of RADARSAT under ATK ownership will be firmly controlled by the U.S.

After months of debate, then Industry Minister Jim Prentice sent a letter to ATK rejecting the sale. He told the press he made his decision based on Section 20 of the Investment Canada Act, which requires him to review such transactions to ensure Canada’s interests are met. Section 20 lists a number of economic and industrial factors which may be considered under the net benefit test, including “the compatibility of the investment with national industrial, economic and cultural policies.” Prentice told reporters: “At this point I’ve made it very clear to ATK the transaction as proposed does not meet the net benefits test … A lot of work has been put into it and it’s important that we welcome foreign investment to Canada, so a decision like this is a unique case that has to be dealt with carefully.” Then NDP industry critic Peggy Nash said it’s the first time Canada has ever blocked the sale of a domestic company to a foreign buyer. “We believe the minister has made the right call here,” she said.

Mr. Prentice seemed to confirm that sovereignty issues influenced the decision when he said, “The jurisdictional aspect in relation to the satellite is a relevant consideration and specifically, where jurisdictional law would sit for the satellite, post transaction, is a relevant consideration.”

In the end this valuable piece of Canadian technology remained under domestic ownership and control. What amazed me about the entire ordeal was the relative lack of public and media interest or discussion. Granted there was some coverage and discourse, but nowhere near equivalent to the importance of the issue. Even now I believe you would be met with blank stares when you ask Canadians:

“How much do you know about RADARSAT-2?“

 

This is part 4 of a 4 part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here.

For more reading material:

‘Intent for a Nation: What Is Canada For?’ by Michael Byers

Military Satellite available from Canadian Taxpayers?

I recently wrote about RADARSAT-2’s history and its relevance to Canadian Arctic Sovereignty. There are also military applications to this Earth Observation Satellite that, if acted on, could make Canada party to and equally at fault to any violations of International Law that might occur.

While most of Canadian foreign policy is in sync with our neighbours to the south, it is not always the case – as we know with Iraq. It is possible, however, that RADARSAT-2 may be available on demand to facilitate wars – perhaps even pre-emptive ones – in contrast with Canadian interests and principles. Canada controls the export of military goods and technologies to countries deemed a threat to Canada, are involved in an imminent threat of hostilities, are under UN sanctions, or whose governments have a recurring record of human rights violations. Why should remote sensing data be treated differently?

Cutbacks to the U.S. remote-sensing programs have made it seek imagery elsewhere. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) anticipated this application while building RADARSAT-2 and signed a contract with the U.S. Air Force to test its usefulness in combat situations. Steve Staples, of the Rideau Institute on International Affairs, pointed out two brochures produced by MDA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to promote the uses of RADARSAT-2:

The first one … would be fairly reflective of what Canadians would expect RADARSAT satellites to be doing. It promotes offshore and continental oil exploration, crop monitoring, ice mapping, and disaster monitoring.

However, there is another application, and there’s another brochure to go along with it that MacDonald Dettwiler has produced to tout the uses of RADARSAT-1 and 2; it’s from their defence systems. It points out that MacDonald Dettwiler sees space-based technology for surveillance and command control systems, and here they say: “We represent a new breed of defence contractor – using commercial space and information management technology to solve the surveillance and command control problems of defence customers.” So I fear that what we are seeing with our overall space agency is that these green uses of our satellite technology are being taken over by these more black uses – military uses – of our systems, and I think this is of great concern to Canadians.

The concern about RADARSAT-2 from the view of the U.S. is that hostile groups or countries could purchase high-resolution images of U.S. facilities and forces. The Canadian government sought to address those concerns through a treaty, signed by then Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy and U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright in 2000, the results of which were deemed “commercially confidential” and remain unpublished.

NASA was supposed to launch RADARSAT-2 in 2001 in exchange for a certain amount of data. The concerns of the U.S. government led to a series of delays which led to the satellite finally being launched in December of 2007 – 6 years later then planned - on a Russian-made Soyuz FG rocket.

Canadian taxpayer dollars have payed for a satellite that could be used to help fight other countries’ wars. In some cases those wars might be illegal or otherwise contrary to Canadian interests and principles. This raises serious issues of international law. Since RADARSAT-2 is licensed and controlled by Ottawa the use of its data could make Canada party to any military action – and equally at fault to any violations of international law.

 

This is part 3 of a 4 part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 4 is here.

Arctic Sovereignty in Orbit

With the Northwest Passage opening up due to a changing climate and several nations challenging Canadian sovereignty over it, the importance of RADARSAT-2 in regards to Arctic sovereignty is obvious. Some argue that Canada’s resources are insufficient to the challenges posed by monitoring such a vast territory and enforcing Arctic sovereignty. The ability to monitor ships and map the presence and thickness of ice from space is a powerul and necessary complement to Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, naval patrol vessels and helicopters available to intercept foreign vessels.

CCGS Amundsen. Photo by John Yackel

An open Northwest Passage offers a route between Asia and the Atlantic that is 7000 km shorter than the current route (via the Panama Canal), which would save time, fuel and the fees of the canal. Gordon O’Connor received a briefing in 2006, when he was Minister of National Defence, that said, “If the current rate of ice thinning continues, the Northwest Passage could be open to more regular navigation by 2015.” And a report for the U.S. Navy in 2001 predicted “within 5-10 years, the Northwest Passage will be open to non-ice-strengthened vessels for at least one month each summer.” (The report is available here as a PDF – footnote #6).

Canada claims the Northwest Passage as internal waters, having drawn ’straight baselines’ (read Article 7 from Part 2 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) around the Arctic islands and insists the claim is consolidated by historic usage including occupation by the Inuit. This would make the waters subject to Canadian domestic laws. The United States, backed by several European Union countries, insists it is an ‘international strait’ (read Part 3 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), which would still maintain Canadian domestic law over the waters but would give foreign vessels a right of transit passage. A U.S. foreign relations document from 1970 stated, “We cannot accept the assertion of a Canadian claim that Arctic waters are internal waters of Canada … Such acceptance would jeopardize the freedom of navigation essential for United States naval activities worldwide.” So the real dispute between Canada and the U.S. is the ability for international navigation in the Northwest Passage.

In the past century only two vessels have passed through the Northwest Passage without Canada’s permission: the SS Manhattan, a modified supertanker owned by Humble Oil (now Exxon) which was the first commercial ship to cross the passage in 1969, and the USCGC Polar Sea, a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, in 1985. It is assumed that some submarine voyages have taken place but their covert nature deprives them of the ability to contribute to any claims under international law. Additional unauthorized transits would undermine the Canadian claim, but many say Canada is poorly equipped to prevent this from happening. The Canadian Coast Guard’s small fleet of icebreakers can not operate in the passage during the winter, and the bulk of Canadian military presence in the North comes from the Canadian Rangers, made up of 1400 part-time volunteers who live in 59 hamlets between Baffin Island and the Alaskan frontier.

RADARSAT-2 is a powerful and ideal tool to track suspect vessels entering the passage, including submarines which the satellite can reportedly track at shallow depths – which they would be while traversing the Northwest Passage.

Even so, Canada would not deny entry to one of its allies or to a reputable shipping company. As Pierre Trudeau said in 1969, “To close off those waters and to deny passage to all foreign vessels in the name of Canadian sovereignty … would be as senseless as placing barriers across the entrances of Halifax and Vancouver harbours.”

The recent interest in Arctic Sovereignty has two main influences. First, the previously discussed Northwest Passage and the related benefits to commercial shipping. Second and probably more important, the expected resources that the Arctic holds. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids may remain to be found in the Arctic…

This is part 2 of a 4 part series. Part 1 is here, Part 3 is here, Part 4 is here.

How much do you know about RADARSAT-2?

I’ll admit until a few months ago I knew relatively little. In fact, I’m not even sure I’d heard of it before. And yet it is a vital component of Canadian Arctic Sovereignty, was 85% paid for by Canadian taxpayer dollars (to the tune of $445 million), and was almost sold to an American Weapons Manufacturer …

It will take several posts to adequately cover this topic. This one will focus on backround information, to be followed with relevant Arctic sovereignty issues and applications, another post on Military uses, and finish with the potential sale to an American company.

RADARSAT-2 is an Earth observation satellite that provides high definition imagery, even at night and through clouds. It can discern hydro lines, ocean currents, and some reports say it can track submarines travelling at shallow depths – as they would be in the Northwest Passage (map). Its ‘left looking’ capability allows the observation satellite to routinely image the Arctic, making it the ideal tool for mapping Arctic sea-ice and tracking ships. In fact the Canadian Ice Service has been the largest domestic user of RADARSAT-1, the less powerful predecessor to RADARSAT-2.

The satellite was developed through a partnership between MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) – best known for their involvment in the CANADARM project – and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), with $445 million of taxpayer money spent on the project covering 85% of the total cost. This investment gave the Canadian government access to imagery in value equal to its investment, ’shutter control’ to restrict the images downloaded from the satellite for reasons of national security, and ‘priority access’ in emergencies, including floods, forest fires, oil spills, or suspect vessels entering Canada’s North.

It was assembled and tested at the David Florida Laboratory near Ottawa and launched into orbit on December 14th of 2007 using a Soyuz FG launch vehicle from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Department of National Defence, Public Safety Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs have all used this Canadian owned and operated technology.

Some of the first images taken by RADARSAT-2 are available online including Greenland, Vancouver, and Iqaluit.

You can find the official RADARSAT-2 site here.

This is part 1 of a 4 part series. Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here, Part 4 is here.