When I came on board, I was mandated to come up with a plan with respect to where this country should go with respect to space.
We are in a tough fiscal environment right now. In Budget 2009 we received $110 million. The purpose of that money is to bridge the gap between the exploration we have done since 1986, when our robotics developments were mandated by the Government of Canada, and when we calculated the next major decision would be made about exploration. so that $110 million was for robotics.
The next large element in the plan is the RADARSAT constellation mission, which is a series of three missions that will make measurements that will contribute to our sovereignty, safety, and security and contribute to fisheries and oceans, part of the agriculture and agrifood issue. That's one satellite of the four we need to do that.
For that system, $397 million was funded in Budget 2010, and we were asked to get $100 million more out of our own existing resources to support that particular system. That was the five-year cost of the program. The actual cost of that satellite system will be about $897 million.
The next major project that I think we should invest in is a PolarSat constellation. This is a series of two satellites that will bring broadband to every Canadian in the north. We don't have that right now. Anik F2 works well to 60 degrees latitude and works intermittently up to about 70, so we need to change that. Our idea there is if that you build the proper infrastructure, the development of our north will take place faster.
The second purpose of that satellite system is weather. There is no weather satellite over the north right now. You get weather swaths. Europe has weather satellites that fly at low altitude, but they only give you pieces of the data. There is no NOAA-type satellite that sits way over the equator and takes it. We have weather information up to about 55 degrees. We don't have it in the north, so this weather satellite will contribute to the World Meteorological Organization and improve all the models I was telling you about.
Then we have climate change. Climate change is important to the Canadian Space Agency. I just referred to the accuracy of the talking heads; there is a difference. It is an important file. It is a priority for the country, but we have to do it accurately. We can't be held hostage by somebody who is threatening us with stuff that's not true. That's all I'm saying; I'm not saying it's not an issue. The third portion of the PolarSat is that particular capability to give us better measurements about what is really happening with climate change.