[Satellite Today 11-14-08] MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) received a contract from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to begin the design of the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM), the CSA announced Nov. 14.
    The RCM aims to ensure the continued use by government scientific and commercial clients of data produced by Canada’s advanced C-band radar instrument. As part of the mission, the three-satellite configuration will provide complete daily coverage of Canada’s land and oceans as well as significant coverage of international areas for Canadian and international users.
The 16-month contract is valued at $32.7 million.
    Separately, MDA has been awarded a contract worth more than $11 million to provide a Radarsat-2 information solution to a confidential defense intelligence agency.
    According to MDA, the solution is to be used to support a variety of surveillance and reconnaissance applications. The contract includes the provision of the first year of near real-time direct downlink of radar imagery from the Radarsat-2 satellite.
    The solution is scheduled to be delivered and will become operational in 12 months.