(Reuters) – Canada on Wednesday said it will invest C$1.01 billion ($740.90 million) over the next 15 years in satellite technology to boost the earth observation data that it uses to track wildfires and other environmental crises.
The new initiative called Radarsat+ will gather information about Earth’s oceans, land, climate, and populated areas, a statement by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) said.
Data collected from earth observation technologies allows scientists to see how the planet changes and make decisions to deal with emergencies like wildfires or longer-term issues like climate change.
Canada has previously launched three satellite missions under the Radarsat program – Radarsat-1, Radarsat-2 and the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM).
Radarsat-1 has been non-operational since 2013, while space tech firm MDA and CSA operate the other two satellites.
The investment will also help develop a replacement for RCM, CSA said. RCM consists of three smaller, more powerful satellites that provide daily coverage of Canada’s coastlines.
($1 = 1.3632 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
