Canadians will celebrate a major milestone in space this Saturday as they mark 50 years since the launch of Alouette-1 on Sept. 29, 1962, one of the most successful scientific satellites ever deployed.
With this historic mission, Canada entered into the space age and became the third nation, after Russia and the U.S., to have entirely designed, built, and operated a device in space. It also launched a new era of international scientific cooperation.
“This was the beginning of a proud space legacy for Canada—it opened the door for outstanding international partnerships that continue to this day,” said Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), in a news release.
The small science satellite was designed to study the Earth’s ionosphere, a layer of ionized gas in the upper atmosphere, from above.
Developed by a team led by John Chapman at the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment (DRTE) in Ottawa, Alouette-1 was launched by NASA from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Some of the equipment used on the spacecraft, including semiconductors, deployable antennas, and solar cells, later became standard technologies in space systems.
“Canada’s rich history in space began with Alouette-1, and this legacy paved the way for Canadian innovation in space, such as the iconic Canadarm,” said Industry Minister Christian Paradis in the release.
Paradis highlighted that Earth observation, space robotics, space science and exploration, and satellite communications are among the Canadian space sector’s niche areas of expertise today.
Alouette Success Remarkable
Before the age of satellites, besides landlines and underwater cables, the main method of long-distance communications was based on high frequency radio, where radio waves in this shortwave band of frequencies are reflected back to Earth by the ionosphere.
This wireless communication was not very reliable due to irregularities in the ionosphere, especially at northern latitudes.
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