Montreal Space Symposium 2019

On June 12 SpaceX launched the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), a trio of radar earth observation satellites built by MDA for the Canadian Space Agency, continuing Canada’s legacy as a pioneering innovator in synthetic aperture radar technologies. Behind this launch was years of preparation by the satellite operations team, a highly interdisciplinary group of people ranging from spacecraft engineers to software engineers to image scientists. Together they developed and tested software and procedures to control the satellite using a complex system spanning across the globe from the North West Territories to Antarctica (and of course, space). This talk will explain how the operations team prepared for the launch and walk through the early stages of operations leading to the first images on the satellites. It will also detail the particular complexities and challenges faced in the early stages of the mission and explain how the operations team was able to successfully overcome these challenges towards a successful mission.