National Defence committee  I'm not sure what COM DEV is described here, but COM DEV is a partner with us on the RCM. It's the same program, the same project. It's a polar orbit, so it covers.... But it has a funny orbit, what you'd call elongated at one point in time, to stay longer on top of the north Arctic.

National Defence committee  Radarsat-1 was designed for seven or eight years. It has been flying for 12 years, if I'm not mistaken.

National Defence committee  It's still active. It has some minor issues, but it's still active and operating. Radarsat-2 is designed for a seven-year life. We expect it to be well within the 10- to 12-year range, as most satellites that we build exceed their life expectancy.

National Defence committee  The Radarsat Constellation Mission is in phase B right now; that's a second study phase. The current configuration is three satellites. That could be expanded into six total, but right now we're looking at three. They are of smaller size and mass than Radarsat-1 and Radarsat-2. Their function is to monitor the Arctic activities with what we call higher-visiting frequency.

National Defence committee  We worked together with COM DEV in many areas within the Canadian projects. We may compete with COM DEV in the area of commercial communication satellites internationally for French and other opportunities, but primarily we are partners on all of the Canadian activities.

National Defence committee  MDA and the industrial team in Canada have a unique and world-renowned capability when it comes to sensing and observing the earth. Not only that, I can tell you that the United States, Norway, and other Scandinavian countries buy our data to manage their Arctic regions, along with other sources they have.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. My name is Mag Iskander and I am the President of the Information Systems Group at MDA Corporation. It is indeed a privilege to have the opportunity to describe for you how space and defence technologies developed by MDA Corporation are and can make significant contributions to the security of Canada's Arctic.