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Status Report on Transformational and Major Crown Projects
RADARSAT Constellation
Description
The RADARSAT Constellation is the follow-on to RADARSAT-1 and 2. RADARSAT-1 was launched in 1995 and is still operating. RADARSAT-2, developed in partnership with the private sector, was launched in 2007 for a seven-year mission. Canada has established itself as a leading global supplier of C-band satellite radar data. The RADARSAT Constellation will enhance this leadership and position Canadian industry in technology and value-added product markets.
The RADARSAT Constellation is designed as a scalable constellation of three small satellites. The launch of the first satellite is planned to occur in fiscal year 2016-2017 followed by the other two satellites in fiscal year 2017-2018. With a constellation, the time between successive imaging of the same part of the Earth (revisit time) is significantly reduced. The creation of a three-satellite constellation will increase the frequency of available information, as well as the reliability of the system, making it better suited to operational requirements of Departments. In the event of a satellite failure, the other satellites can continue to provide a reduced level of service. The lower cost of satellites facilitates the replacement of individual satellites and makes the system scalable.
The scope of the RADARSAT Constellation Major Crown Project includes the requirement definition, design, development manufacture, integration, test and launch of the satellites plus the design, development, manufacture and installation of the associated ground segment. One year of operation of the 3-satellite constellation is also included as well as an applications development program.
The RADARSAT Constellation will provide all-weather day and night data in support of three main user areas: maritime surveillance, disaster management and ecosystem monitoring. The three satellite constellation provides average daily coverage of most of Canada and its surrounding waters. Coverage increases significantly in Canada's North. The constellation will provide coverage two to three times daily of the Northwest Passage.
In support of maritime surveillance requirements of Environment Canada, Department of National Defence, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada, the RADARSAT Constellation is the principal data source envisaged for wide area surveillance of Canada's remote areas and marine approaches. Only satellite data can offer regular cost effective coverage to task ships and aircraft to intercept suspect vessels. The daily coverage of marine areas will also support fisheries monitoring, ice and iceberg monitoring, pollution monitoring and integrated ocean and coastal zone management.
In support of disaster management, both in Canada and globally, the RADARSAT Constellation can provide high resolution, all-weather (3 m) imagery of most places in the world on a daily basis. This data is critical to disaster mitigation, warning, response and recovery. Disaster types supported include flood monitoring and relief, oil spills, changes in the permafrost in northern Canada, volcano and earthquake warning and hurricane monitoring.
In support of ecosystem monitoring of Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, Parks Canada and Agriculture and Agri-foods Canada, the RADARSAT Constellation will be a critical source of information for agriculture, forestry and wildlife habitat. The Constellation will also provide medium resolution data for wide area change detection, supporting water quantity monitoring, wetlands mapping and coastal change monitoring.
In addition, the RADARSAT Constellation develops Canadian high technology design and manufacturing capabilities and the integration of satellite data into information products and services. Canada's space and geomatics industries will benefit from increased positioning on international markets and privileged access to data essential to many international users.
The RADARSAT Constellation will provide C-band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data continuity to existing RADARSAT users, including the Canadian Ice Service, which relies on SAR data to support safe shipping in Canada.
| Sponsoring Agency | Canadian Space Agency |
|---|---|
| Contracting Authority | Public Works and Government Services Canada |
| Participating Departments | - Natural Resources Canada - Environment Canada - National Defence - Foreign Affairs and International Trade - Industry Canada - Fisheries and Oceans - Agriculture and Agri-foods Canada - Transport Canada - Public Security - Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Parks Canada |
| Prime Contractor | - MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), Richmond, British Columbia |
|---|---|
| Major Sub-Contractors | - MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Ste.-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec - Magellan Aerospace, Bristol Aerospace, Winnipeg, Manitoba - COMDEV Limited, Cambridge, Ontario - EADS, Astrium, Stevenage, United Kingdom - MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Halifax, Nova Scotia - Space X, Hawthorne, California, USA |
| Canadian Tier 2 and Tier 3 Subcontractors | - SED Systems, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - EADS, Composites Atlantic, Lunenburg, Nova-Scotia - IMP Group, Halifax, Nova-Scotia - DRS, Ottawa, Ontario - Lemex, Brossard, Quebec - STMicroelectronics Canada, Mississauga, Ontario - Maya, Montreal, Quebec |
| Phase | Major Milestones | Date (at completion) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Requirement Definition | March 2008 |
| B | Preliminary Design | March 2010 |
| C | Detailed Design | August 2012 |
| D | Launch satellite #1 Launch satellite #2 and #3 |
August 2016 December 2017 |
| E1 | Operations (part of MCP) | April 2019 |
| E2 | Operations (not part of MCP) | 2019 to 2025 |
Progress Report and Explanation of Variances
On December 13, 2004, the Domestic Affairs Committee of Cabinet granted approval-in-principle to a ten-year program to implement a RADARSAT Constellation aimed at addressing user needs in relation to Canadian sovereignty and marine surveillance, environmental monitoring and change detection, and disaster management. The RADARSAT Constellation is to be government-owned and operated.
In Budget 2005, the CSA was provided with an additional $111 million over five years (2005-2006 to 2009-2010) to work with the Canadian space industry on the development of the constellation of advanced radar remote sensing satellites. This funding covered Phases A (Initial Planning and Identification Phase) through C (Detailed Definition Phase) of the RADARSAT Constellation Major Crown Project.
On June 6, 2005, Treasury Board granted Preliminary Project Approval (PPA) for the RADARSAT Constellation and expenditure authority for the Project Initial Planning and Identification Phase A. During Phase A, feasibility studies were finalized, user requirements were defined, and risk mitigation activities and options analysis for the BUS and payload were performed.
The Phase A work started in July 2005 and the initial scope of work was completed in December 2006. Phase A was then extended to allow additional technical risk reduction activities to continue during the period prior to the Phase B contract award. This was completed in March 2008.
A revised PPA (Preliminary Project Approval) Treasury Board Submission to proceed to Phases B and C was approved in March 2007. Following a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process, PWGSC obtained authority to enter into a contract with the Prime Contractor, MDA and the contract for Phase B was awarded to MDA in November 2008. The Preliminary Design (Phase B) was completed in March 2010. The contract for Phase B was subsequently amended to include the detailed design (Phase C). RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) is now well advanced in its detailed design phase. Critical Design Reviews for the subsystems are planned for the summer 2012. The Phase C schedule has increased by six months, mainly due to technical risks realizations. The Phase C is planned to be completed in August 2012 with the achievement of the Mission Critical Design Review that is acceptable to the RADARSAT Constellation stakeholders.
Budget 2010 allocated additional funds to RCM. A Memorandum to Cabinet (MC) requesting authorization to pursue the further development of RCM was approved in June 2010 following the announcement of RCM funding in Budget 2010. The funding allocated in Budget 2010 is to support a portion of the manufacturing, integration and testing of RCM during the subsequent five year fiscal framework.
A second revised PPA was approved by Treasury Board in December 2010. The purpose of this revised PPA was also to provide additional expenditure authority to include the procurement of long-lead items during Phase C and also to include a technology demonstration program for the DND funded Automatic Identification System (AIS) payload.
The contract for Phase D (Manufacturing) will be awarded once CSA and PWGSC will have obtained the appropriated authorities required from Treasury Board.
Industrial Benefits
Significant industrial benefits in the space and Earth observation sectors are expected from the RADARSAT Constellation program. It is expected to generate employment growth in the Canadian knowledge-based economy and spur the growth of small and medium-sized businesses as the Canadian infrastructure and services industry continues to grow. As of March 31, 2011, the CSA has funded over $90 million worth of work to Canadian industry directly attributable to the design of RADARSAT Constellation Major Crown Project.
Regarding the Canadian content and the distribution of contracts within Canada, the prime contract includes a requirement for 70% Canadian content, excluding launch services, and the Prime contractor is required to apply CSA's overall regional distribution targets on a "best efforts" basis. In addition, considering the past difficulty in achieving the targets in Atlantic Canada, a minimum requirement of 3.5% of the 70% Canadian content has been set for that region. The prime contract includes reporting obligations and performance measures as well as financial penalties for not meeting the minimum Atlantic Canada content. CSA works closely with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to monitor regional distribution achievements and to support the prime contractor in the delivery of the given targets.
| British Columbia |
Prairies | Ontario | Quebec | Atlantic Provinces |
Total Canada |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Targets | 10% | 10% | 35% | 35% | 10% (3.5% min.)* |
100% |
| Actuals % | 29.5% | 11.9% | 20.0% | 35.1% | 2.5%* | 100% |
| Actuals $ | $26.56 | $10.70 | $18.97 | $31.65 | $2.27 | $90.16 |
* The absolute Canadian Content requirement for the Atlantic Canada Region is of 2.45% of the total contract value (3.5% of the 70% Canadian Content Requirement. As of March 2011 this contractual requirement has been met since 2.5% of the total contract value has been achieved in the Atlantic Canada region. This 2.5% corresponds to 3.57% of the 70% Canadian Content Requirement.
| Program | Current Estimated Total Expenditure | Forecast to March 31, 2012 | Planned Spending 2012-2013 | Future Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RADARSAT Constellation | 286.9 | 210.1 | 73.3 | 3.5 |
James Webb Space Telescope
Description
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a joint mission of NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency. The mission concept is for a large filled-aperture telescope located 1.5 million km from Earth. Like Hubble, the JWST will be used by the astronomy community to observe targets that range from objects within our Solar System to the most remote galaxies, which are seen during their formation in the early universe. The science mission is centered on the quest to understand our origins, and specifically aimed at:
- Observing the very first generation of stars to illuminate the dark universe when it was less than a billion years old.
- Understanding the physical processes that have controlled the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time, and, in particular, identifying the processes that led to the assembly of galaxies within the first 4 billion years after the Big Bang.
- Understanding the physical processes that control the formation and early evolution of stars in our own and other nearby galaxies.
- Studying the formation and early evolution of proto-planetary disks, and characterizing the atmospheres of isolated planetary mass objects.
The JWST is now scheduled for launch in 2018 following NASA's replanning exercise. JWST instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 meters in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court that will both fold up and open once in outer space.
Canada is providing the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and Near Infra-Red Imager and Slitless Spectrometer (NIRISS). The NIRISS instrument replaces the Tuneable Filter Imager (TFI) originally planned. The FGS is integral to the attitude control system of JWST, and consists of two fully redundant cameras that will report precise pointing information of JWST. Canadian expertise in this area has been established with the successful fine error sensors for the FUSE mission. Packaged with the FGS but functionally independent, the Near Infra-Red Imager and Slitless Spectrometer covers the 0.7 to 5 micrometers spectral range. NIRISS provides capability specialized for surveys of objects such as primeval galaxies, for the study of transiting planetary systems and for high-contrast imaging applications such as the detection of extra-solar planets.
The JWST-FGS Major Crown Project, in partnership with COM DEV Canada, consists of the design, development, integration and testing and integration into the spacecraft, launch and commissioning of the Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infra-Red Imager and Slitless Spectrometer. By participating in this leading-edge international space exploration mission, the Canadian Space Agency is actively promoting Canadian scientific expertise and innovative, advanced space technologies. The National Research Council's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics is a key Government of Canada partner for activities related to the development of science instruments and distribution of telescope data. In return for its overall investment in the JWST, Canada will obtain a minimum of 5% of the time on this unique space telescope.
Already, the news of Canada's involvement in this international space exploration mission is inspiring youth, educators and amateur astronomers, and rallying members of Canada's world-renowned astrophysics community.
| Sponsoring Agency | Canadian Space Agency |
|---|---|
| Contracting Authority | Public Works and Government Services Canada for the Canadian Space Agency |
| Participating Departments | - NRC's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics - Industry Canada |
| Prime Contractor | - COM DEV Canada, Ottawa, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Major Sub-Contractors | - Teledyne, U.S. - Corning Netoptix, U.S. - IMP Aerospace Avionics, Canada - ABB Bomem, Canada - MDA, Canada - INO, Canada - BMV, Canada - CDA, U.S. - ESTL, Europe |
| Phase | Major Milestones | Date |
|---|---|---|
| A | Requirement Definition | 2003-2004 |
| B | Preliminary Design | August 2004 to May 2005 |
| C | Detailed Design | July 2005 to September 2008 |
| D | Manufacturing/Assembly; Integration/Testing; Pre-launch preparations, Launch/System Commissioning | May 2007 to 2019 |
| E | Operations | 2019 to 2024 |
Progress Report and Explanation of Variances
In March 2004, Treasury Board gave Preliminary Project Approval for Phases B, C and D at an indicative cost of $67.2 million. In December 2006, before the completion of the detailed design of the FGS, the CSA requested increased expenditure authority to complete the project. Treasury Board granted Effective Project Approval for a substantive total cost estimate of $98.4 million in February 2007 with the condition "that the Canadian Space Agency provide reports to Treasury Board at the completion of Phases C and D of the JWST project which include up-to-date information on the project scope, costs, schedule and risks". At the same time, the project became a Major Crown Project.
The first Critical Design Review (CDR), held in March 2007, for the guider function of the FGS, did reveal some technical issues, which required additional effort to resolve. This Review took place after the Effective Project Approval (EPA) received in February 2007. After this first CDR, with the focus now turning toward the preparation of the system level CDR, new issues became apparent requiring additional analysis. Testing of the Tunable Filter Imager prototype also revealed technical issues that needed to be addressed.
During this transition between the completion of the detailed design phase (Phase C) and the initiation of the manufacturing phase (Phase D) the project faced the prospect of a significant cost growth and therefore required the CSA to return to Treasury Board to amend its Effective Project Approval (EPA) for the JWST Major Crown Project. The current estimated total cost for the Definition and Implementation phases is now $151.0 million (excluding contingency). On December 2007, Treasury Board granted a revised Effective Project Approval. Manufacturing, integration and test of the FGS will be completed during Fiscal Year 2012-2013.
COM DEV Canada, the prime contractor for the JWST Fine Guider Sensor (FGS) project, has been working on the FGS Engineering Test Unit (ETU) and Proto Flight Model (PFM).
After a successful environment test campaign replicating the conditions of the launch, transition to its operation site and operations the ETU was delivered to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in September 2010.
Over the last period, the project has been very busy with the hardware and software development. On the PFM side, COM DEV Canada has successfully completed the final integration of all the components and the environmental test campaign. One key element of the TFI instrument encountered problems that could not be resolved in time for delivery. This prompted a change in our contribution to the Webb Space Telescope Mission: the TFI is being replaced by a Near Infra-Red Imager and Slitless Spectrometer (NIRISS). The NIRISS instrument has completed its critical design review and is progressing with components procurement and testing. The PFM is planned to be delivered to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center during the summer 2012.
Industrial Benefits
As of March 31, 2011, the CSA has funded close to $104 million worth of work to Canadian industry directly attributable to the JWST-FGS Major Crown Project. Direct industrial benefits from the construction of the JWST-FGS, TFI and NIRISS system will benefit central regions of Canada. Although there is no regional distribution requirement for this project, the following table provides an approximate distribution:
| Ontario | Quebec | Atlantic Provinces |
Total Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals (%) | 89.7% | 8.5% | 1.7% | 100% |
| Actuals ($) | 93.2 | 8.9 | 1.8 | 103.9 |
| Program | Current Estimated Total Expenditure | Forecast to March 31, 2012 | Planned Spending 2012-2013 | Future Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JWST-FGS and TFI | 151.0 | 145.4 | 1.7 | 3.8 |
