Federal Space Map

1. Introduction
2. S&T Domains and Space S&T Themes
3. Security and Defence
4. Economy
5. Environment
6. Energy
7. Health
8. In Focus - The North

1. Introduction

In July 2011, the ADM Integration Board (IB) recognized the need to increase awareness of how space science and technology (S&T) supports federal science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) and wanted to highlight the importance of space as a horizontal policy issue. As a result, The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Department of National Defence (DND) co-led the development of a Federal Space Map (referred to throughout this document as simply the Space Map) to provide an overview of how space data and systems are currently used by SBDAs. The Space Map has undergone two updates since it was first published in 2012.

Through the process of collecting input from other government departments, it became clear that this exercise could lead to increased synergies between SBDAs. The Space Map is a snapshot of current space-related activities conducted by SBDAs, primarily within the past two years (2017-2018). The SBDAs involved in the map, in addition to the CSA and DND, include:

• Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)
• Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
• Health Canada (HC)
• Transport Canada (TC)
• National Research Council Canada (NRC)
• Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL)
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

During this exercise, other federal departments and agencies outside of the IB were also consulted, including Public Safety Canada (PSC), Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), Parks Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).

The framework of the Space Map is based on the Federal S&T Map of Outcomes and Activities (Federal S&T Map), which charts the work of federal science-performing departments and agencies and the government priorities they support. Clear deadlines and scope were established in order to provide a timely ‘snapshot’ of federal S&T space activities. An "80/20" approach was adopted as this exercise was not intended to be exhaustive, but rather, to highlight space-related activities as they span the 13 SBDA members of the IB. It should be noted that this is an evergreen document that will be updated on a regular basis with input from each participating government department. Finally, there was no attempt to include academic (including granting councils/agencies) or industrial activities explicitly, although many of the activities highlighted in the Space Map are supported by these sectors.

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

• TT&C: Tracking, Telemetry, and Control
• CCMEO: Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation
• RCM: RADARSAT Constellation Mission
• SPOT: For "Satellite pour l'Observation de la Terre"
• OGC: Open Geospatial Consortium
• ACE-FTS: For “Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment - Fourier Transform Spectrometer”
• BIO: Bedford Institute of Oceanography (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)
• GEOSS: Global Earth Observing System
• CFS: Canadian Forestry Service
• CIS: Canadian Ice Service
• S&T: Science and Technology
• EO: Earth Observation
• ICE: Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (environment)
• UVIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope