DND Micro Satellite Successfully Launched in India

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

Canada’s Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSat) was launched successfully Tuesday night on board an Indian rocket.

M3MSat is a tele-detection satellite, and its mission is to demonstrate and test the technology of three instruments. HANDOUT PHOTO / CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY

The launch was conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation, from Sriharikota, India, along with another Canadian satellite owned by GHGSat Inc.

The M3MSat mission, which was developed for the Department of National Defence, will improve ship detection and marine traffic management in Canadian waters by testing new technologies.

The launch also included ‘Claire’, the first demonstration satellite by Montreal-based GHGSat Inc. That microsatellite will test a new way to measure greenhouse gas emissions from industrial facilities.

Claire is the world’s first satellite capable of measuring greenhouse gas emissions from sources on the scale of industrial facilities, GHGSat pointed out. GHGSat’s sensor technology has also been miniaturized to fit on a low-cost nanosatellite, enabling the company to offer commercial greenhouse gas measurement and monitoring services. GHGSat says it will use its technology to help industrial emitters in sectors such as oil and gas, power generation, mining, waste management and agriculture to measure, control and ultimately reduce their emissions.