The Conservative Canadian government’s hard line on sanctions against Russia has scuttled the launch of a key Canadian military satellite that was to be put into orbit by a Russian rocket. As The Ottawa Citizen reports, [5] on the heels of Russia expelling a Canadian diplomat in Moscow, labelling him a spy, Canadian Space Agency spokeswoman Maya-Olivia Eyssen said the spy satellite, which was to have been launched from Russia’s facilities in Kazakhstan, is now trying to find another country or private company willing to send it into space. Russia has indicated it is more than willing to launch the Canadian satellites, say sources.
The Conservative government’s hard line on sanctions against Russia has scuttled the launch of a key Canadian military satellite that was to be put into orbit by a Russian rocket.
Officials with the Canadian Space Agency and the spacecraft’s builder, Com Dev, are now trying to find another country or private company willing to send the surveillance satellite into space.
The move to cancel the June 19 launch of the satellite comes as the Canadian government continues with sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine.
But as The Ottawa Citizen notes, [5] this is a decision by Canada...
In its statement, Com Dev noted it was the Canadian government that decided not to proceed with the planned launch.
Russia has indicated it is more than willing to launch the Canadian satellites, say sources.
Somewhat shooting the nation's space indutsry in the foot...
The Canadian government’s sanctions against Russia could put Canada’s space industry in a bind as there are a limited number of nations and private companies capable of launching satellites.
As Putin said about the Americans...
“The US is certainly one of the world’s leaders. At some point it seemed that it was the only leader and a uni-polar system was in place. Today it appears that is not the case. Everything in the world is interdependent and once you try to punish someone, in the end you will cut off your nose to spite your face,” he said.