Canada's Leading Role In The Militarisation Of Space

The best example of this is RADARSAT, the world's most advanced "synthetic aperture radar" (SAR) satellite system. Although RADARSAT is commercial, it is probably Canada's single-most important technological contribution to U.S. war efforts. (Read more: "RADARSAT: From Spin to Secrecy" and "Meet 'the RADARSAT Family of Satellites.'") A history of peaceful pretenses The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Canadian politicians and the corporations behind RADARSAT have proudly extolled its benefits to humanity and the environment. They explain that since its 1995 launch, RADARSAT-1's SAR sensors have used microwaves to produce earth images, even when the planet is obscured by the cover of darkness, clouds, dust storms or the most adverse weather conditions. When the Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced the RADARSAT project in 1987, then-Science Minister Frank Oberle said "This technology is of no particular use to the military." Then, in 1995, when the satellite was launched under the tutelage of Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, CSA officials repeated the same refrain, saying RADARSAT would not be used for military purposes. One CSA spokesperson, Mac Evans, tried to have it both ways saying: "We are fostering the use of space for peaceful purposes... That does not exclude military use." (Read more: "Secret Military Eye in the Sky.") Full article: http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/58/blurb-58.htm

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