Table of Contents

Canadian Space Milestones

 

1839

Sir Edward Sabine establishes the first magnetic observatory at University of Toronto, to study the proposition made by Edmund Halley in 1716 that northern lights were formed according to the Earth's magnetic field. Sabine is first to determine that magnetic disturbances occur worldwide and are related to the number and strength of sunspots.

This same year, the Meteorological Service of Canada is set up, also at the University of Toronto.

1882-1883

First International Polar Year, organized on an international basis, includes measurements of meteorological, magnetic, and auroral phenomena in northern Canada.

1916

June 6
During World War I, the Government of Canada decides to coordinate national scientific research with the creation of the Honorary Advisory Council on Scientific and Industrial Research, which after June 19, 1925, as the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC).

1921

August 28
John Herbert Chapman, who will gain wide recognition as the father of the Canadian Space Program is born in London, Ontario. He will be instrumental in initiating and directing the successful Alouette/ISIS scientific Earth satellite program.

1932-1933

Second International Polar Year (IPY). Canada participates by establishing measurement field stations of meteorological, magnetic and auroral phenomena beyond the Arctic Circle. New technology, unknown during the first IPY 50 years earlier, makes use of radio-equipped balloons and kites to extend measurements high above the Earth's surface.

Radio techniques are used for the first time in Canada to demonstrate the correlation between solar radiation and the ionosphere.

1952

The Defense Research Board, founded five years earlier, merges two National Research Council laboratories (Radio Propagation Lab and Electronics Lab) into the Defense Research Telecommunications Establishment in Shirley's Bay, west of Ottawa. The latter is the predecessor of the Communications Research Centre.

1954

The Defense Research Board builds the Defense Research Medical Laboratories in Downsview, Ontario, that will merge, in 1971, with the Royal Canadian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, to form the Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (DCIEM).

1957-1958

International Geophysical Year. From July 1957 to December 1958, is a period of maximum solar activity, and the science community worldwide conducts research to better understand Earth's physics and the interactions between the Sun and our planet.

During this period, Canada and the U.S. build the Churchill Research Range in northern Manitoba, for launching suborbital sounding rockets that will probe the upper atmosphere. Until it is decommissioned in 1989, more than 3,500 suborbital flights are launched there.

1957

October 4
Opening of the Space Age with the successful launch of the Soviet Sputnik 1 satellite, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. The small 58-cm. aluminium sphere, launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on an R-7/Semiorka rocket, circles the globe for three months before burning upon re-entry in the atmosphere.

Within hours of its launch, John Chapman and fellow scientists at Defense Research Telecommunications Establishment are the first to record Sputnik 1's beeps.

1958

October 1
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially begins operations. Two months earlier, on July 29, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower had approved a bill voted by Congress to create the first-ever civilian space agency.

October 4
During its annual meeting in Washington, the International Council of Scientific Unions decides to create the COSPAR organization (Committee on Space Research) to extend space research that had been carried out under the various International Geophysical Year programs. Canada is a founding member. The charter is adopted in Amsterdam the following year, on November 13, 1959.

November 8
A Nike-Cajun sounding rocket is launched from the Churchill Range with the first Canadian science payload.

1959

March 11
NASA approves a Canadian proposal, submitted by the Defense Research Board, to build the Alouette 1 satellite for the study of the ionosphere. NASA agrees to launch this first Canadian satellite.

June 6
The Prince Albert Radar Laboratory is inaugurated in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. On this day, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and President Dwight Eisenhower have a telecommunication conversation by means of a radar signal that bounces back from the moon.

September 5
The Black Brant 1, the first all-Canadian sounding rocket, built by Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is launched at the Churchill Range. Over 3,500 suborbital sounding rockets would be launched from the site to probe the upper atmosphere.

1960

June 22
Launch of U.S. navigation satellite Transit 2A with a cosmic noise receiver, the first Canadian hardware in space.

August 12
Deployment in space of Echo 1, a U.S. satellite-balloon used as a passive communications satellite that was the first to provide a two-way telephone conversation. Echo 1, a 30-m inflatable structure, orbits the Earth at an altitude of 1600 km. One of its receiving stations is in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

1961

April 12
After completing one orbit around the Earth during a 108-minute flight on his Vostok 1 spacecraft, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, a 27-year-old pilot, makes history as the first human being in space.

May 5
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard becomes the first American in space after a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard his Freedom 7 capsule. The communication antenna of the spacecraft is Canadian, and is known as STEM (storable tubular extendible mechanism), built by de Havilland Aircraft of Downsview, Ontario.

1962

February 20
Astronaut John H. Glenn achieves the first U.S. orbital manned flight when his Friendship 7 capsule, also equipped with a Canadian-built STEM antenna, circles the Earth three times during a five-hour space flight.

September 29
Canada becomes the third country to have a satellite in space, after Russia and the U.S., when a Thor-Agena B rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California successfully launches science satellite Alouette 1 on an 80-degree-inclination orbit, at an altitude of 1000 km. (Official local date of the launch is September 28, 10: 30 p.m., PDT.) Designed with a one-year lifetime, the topside sounder will transmit useful data for over 10 years. It studies the ionosphere, the electrically-charged layer of the upper atmosphere that can affect long-distance radio transmission. Alouette 2 is launched on November 29, 1965.

December 13
Launch of Relay-1, a communication satellite built by RCA Limited. The transponder onboard the spacecraft, provided by a microwave group at the RCA plant in Montreal, is the first Canadian-built hardware in a communications satellite.

1963

May 23
Memorandum of Understanding between the Defense Research Board and NASA for the ISIS (International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies) program, a follow-on of the Alouette program.

June 16
Vostok 6 carries Valentina Tereshkova, the 26-year-old cosmonaut who becomes the first woman in space. In her three-day voyage, she flies around the Earth 48 times.

December 21
First weather photo transmitted in Canada from U.S. satellite TIROS 8.

1964

August 22
Creation, in Washington, D.C., of the International Satellite Telecommunication Organization (Intelsat). Canada is a founding member.

1965

March 18
During mission Voskhod 2, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performs a 24-minute EVA (ExtraVehicular Activity), thus becoming the first human being to walk in space.

April 6
Launch of Early Bird (Intelsat 1), first commercial communication satellite, used by the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation for transatlantic communications (in 1975, it would become Teleglobe Canada).

November 29
A Thor-Agena B rocket launches Canada's Alouette 2 from Vandenberg AFB, to continue ionospheric research from space. This first of the ISIS (International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies) scientific satellites will compile useful data on the ionosphere for almost 10 years. It was designed and built by Canada, but launched by NASA.

1967

In February, John Herbert Chapman, the leading manager of the Alouette program, submits a report to the federal government into which he recommends the creation of a national space agency.

1968

January 1
Spar Aerospace Limited is formed out of de Havilland Aircraft's Special Products and Advanced Research division.

March 28
John Chapman presents a White Paper on satellite communications to the Government entitled, "A Domestic Satellite Communications System for Canada."

1969

January 30
Launch of ISIS 1. More sophisticated than the Alouette spacecraft, ISIS is designed to make a comprehensive study of the upper section of the ionosphere, and to produce the first picture of the aurora borealis (northern lights) from space. Launch of ISIS 2 on March 31, 1971.

July 20
At 10:56 p.m. EDT on this historic Sunday, U.S. astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander of mission Apollo 11, becomes the first man to set foot on the Moon. Fifteen minutes later, Buzz Aldrin climbs down the ladder of the lunar module to join his commander. Using landing gear built by Héroux Aerospace of Longueuil, Quebec, the Eagle had touched down more than six hours earlier (4:17 p.m.) in the Sea of Tranquility. Apollo 11, is launched July 16, and splashes down on the Pacific Ocean on July 24.

September 1
The federal government announces the creation of Telesat Canada to own and exploit Canadian communication satellites. The government also sets up a Department of Communications that immediately takes over the Communications Research Centre (formerly Defense Research Telecommunications Establishment) and the Interdepartmental Committee on Space.

1970

September 30
Telesat Canada signs an agreement with Hughes Aircraft of California to build Anik 1, Canada's first communications satellite.

1971

March 31
Launch of the ISIS 2 scientific satellite on a Thor-Delta rocket, to continue ionospheric studies performed the two Alouette spacecrafts and ISIS 1. In 1984, years after all Canadian research needs have been fulfilled, the operation of the two ISIS spacecraft is transferred to Japan for additional research.

April 1
Creation of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS).

April 20
Memorandum of Understanding is signed between Canada's Department of Communications and NASA to start the CTS (Communications Technology Satellite) experimental communications satellite program, named Hermes upon launch, in 1976.

November 2
Dr. Gerhard Herzberg receives the Nobel Prize for his work in molecular spectroscopy. Today, the National Research Council's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria B.C., is named in honour of this brilliant Canadian scientist.

1972

July 26
First Landsat-1 remote-sensing image is acquired in Canada, at the Prince Albert receiving station.

September 29
The federal government creates the David Florida Laboratory, an integration and environmental testing facility that will first support the Hermes/CTS program. The laboratory is named in honour of C. David Florida, manager of the ISIS program until 1971.

September 30
Alouette 1 ceases activity nine years after its planned termination.

November 9
The Anik A-1 communications satellite is launched. Canada is the first country with a domestic communications satellite in geostationary orbit.

1973

April 20
Launch of Anik A-2, Canada's second communications satellite. Anik A-2 is launched to bring network radio, TV and improved telephone services to Canadians living in the North.

1974

NASA awards Canada the responsibility of designing, developing, and building the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) for the Space Shuttle. The result is Canadarm, the 15-metre robotic arm. Canada also invests $100 million for its development contributing the first unit to to the space shuttle program. Four other Canadarms are ordered from industrial main contractor Spar Aerospace Limited of Brampton, Ontario.

1975

May 7
Anik A-3 is launched on a Delta rocket. Telesat Canada accomplishes another world first by teaming Anik A-3 with A-2 in the same orbital position to permit the still usable channels on each satellite to be operated as if they were onboard the same spacecraft.

August 1
Nearly 10 years after launch, Alouette 2 is terminated.

1976

January 17
The experimental CTS (Communications Technology Satellite), is named Hermes upon launch, by Science Minister Jeanne Sauvé. The most powerful satellite of the time, Hermes is the first communications satellite to operate in the 14/12-GHz frequency band. In four years of joint operation with the United States, Hermes explores new ways of using satellite technology and paves the way for the development of future direct broadcast satellites.

1977

March to June
Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Western Ontario proceed to telemedicine experiments using the Hermes satellite.

August 20
Interplanetary probe Voyager 2 leaves Earth. Canada has played a role in the development of the probe: the telemetry instruments of Voyager 2 are attached to the tip of a Canadian-designed boom. On September 5, a Titan-Centaur rocket launches Voyager 1 that will perform a flyby of Jupiter on March 5, 1979, and Saturn on November 13, 1980. Voyager 2 will reach Jupiter by July 9, 1979, Saturn on August 26, 1981, Uranus on January 24, 1986, and Neptune on August 24, 1989.

1978

January 24
Cosmos 954, a large Soviet military reconnaissance satellite powered by a nuclear reactor, survives re-entry into the atmosphere, and crashes over the Northwest Territories, which leads to Operation Morning Light for the search and recovery of radioactive debris.

June 26
NASA launches the oceanography satellite Seasat, the first civilian satellite with synthetic aperture radar. Canada sets up the Sursat (Surveillance Satellite) program to use its imagery data. Based on this experience, planning begins for RADARSAT.

December 15
Anik B, Canada's fourth communications satellite, is launched atop a Delta rocket. Anik B is the world's first dual-band communications satellite, replacing the Anik A series as a commercial satellite operating in the 6/4-GHz frequencies, and continuing the promising Hermes experiments using six channels in the higher 14/12-GHz range.

1979

January 1
Canada and the European Space Agency sign their first five-year cooperation agreement. Canada is a cooperating member state of the European organization.

July 16
Creation in London, of Inmarsat, an international organization for satellite communications between sea and land, and for air, land and maritime mobile telecommunications. Canada is a founding member of Inmarsat.

November 24
Termination of the Hermes/CTS experimental communications satellite.

1980

Canada signs an agreement with European Space Agency to participate in the development and exploitation of Olympus, the largest hybrid communications satellite launched by Western countries. Canada, with an 11% stake in the Olympus program, will supply solar panels, amplifiers, hyperfrequency components, and support assembly, integration and testing at the David Florida Laboratory of the $1-billion spacecraft.

In July, during their annual meeting, the leaders of Canada and other G7 countries agree to create CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites).

1981

October 23
The Toronto-based Globe and Mail uses Anik A-3 to relay news in computerized form Toronto to Montréal, and later, to Calgary and Vancouver.

November 13
Launch of Canadarm aboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-2).

1982

August 26
Anik D-1 is launched atop a Delta rocket. The more capable D series will replace the A and B series, and form the backbone of Canada's domestic satellite communications system until the early 1990s.

September 9
The first operational rescue made possible because of the COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue satellite-assisted system set up by United States, USSR, France and Canada.

September 29
Because Canadarm performs so well, NASA extends an invitation to fly a Canadian in space. This is the beginning of the Canadian astronaut program.

November 12
Anik C-3 is deployed out of the cargo bay of Columbia during the first commercial mission of the space shuttle (mission STS-5). Anik C-3 carries the equivalent of 32 colour television channels and 21,504 voice circuits. It is the world's first direct broadcast satellite for commercial use, and is more powerful than the previous Anik series, allowing the use of smaller, 1.2-metre receiving dish antennas, and transmissions to city areas without fear of radio interference.

1983

June 22
The first operational use of Canadarm deploys the SPAS-01 out of the cargo bay of shuttle Challenger, four days into mission STS-7.

June 23
With the help of a payload assist module, Anik C-2 is deployed out of Challenger's cargo bay, five days into mission STS-7. C-2 followed C-3 into orbit because satellites are numbered according to when they are built, not when they are launched. Sally Ride is the first American female astronaut in space.

December 5
The first six Canadian astronauts are selected: Roberta Bondar, Marc Garneau, Steve MacLean, Ken Money, Robert Thirsk, and Bjarni Tryggvason.

1984

April 6-13
During mission STS-41C aboard space shuttle Challenger, astronauts James Van Hoften and George Nelson do the first on-orbit repair of a satellite, Solar Maximum. Canadarm is used for the seventh time on a space shuttle mission to support spacewalking astronauts and to deploy the Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). This is a platform the size of a school bus that contains 57 materials experiments; three trays are from Canada.

October 5-13
Astronaut Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space on mission STS-41G aboard Challenger. As a Payload Specialist, he is responsible for CANEX-1, a set of Canadian experiments. On this mission, Canadarm is operated for the ninth time on a space shuttle flight.

November 9
On day 2 of mission STS-51A, the inaugural flight of space shuttle Discovery, Anik D2 is deployed. With sister satellite D1, launched in 1982, it is one of the biggest communications satellites of the time. On the same mission, two stranded communications satellites, Palapa B2 and Westar VI, are the first on-orbit spacecraft retrieved by the space shuttle and returned to Earth.

December
The Government of Canada approves the definition phase of the RADARSAT-1 remote-sensing satellite program.

1985

February 8
An Ariane 3 rocket is launched from the space centre in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying Brazil's first communications satellite Brasilsat F1, into orbit. This first Canadian-Brazilian effort to bring the benefits of satellite communications to Brazil is also the first time that a Canadian company, Spar Aerospace, is selected as prime contractor for satellites and ground equipment for an international client.

March 17
During the "Clover Summit" in the city of Québec, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney accepts the invitation extended by President Ronald Reagan to take part in the space station project.

March 19
Details are released for a Canadian Space Plan, with a funding of $195 million for fiscal year 1985-1986. The Space Plan includes Canada's participation in the space station project and a mobile communications satellite (MSAT).

April 12
On day 1 of mission STS-51D, Anik C1 is deployed out of the payload bay of Discovery.

April 16
Canada and the U.S. sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the space station project.

November 26 – December 3
During the inaugural flight of Shuttle Atlantis, on mission STS-61B, a Canadian experiment on the manufacturing of mirrors in space is performed. The experiment is designed by Jean-François Deschênes and Daniel Rey, two students at École secondaire Charlebois in Ottawa. Astronauts Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring perform a spacewalk for the first experiment to assemble space station elements.

December
Canadian Astronaut Steve MacLean is selected to perform experiment CANEX-2 while participating as a Payload Specialist on shuttle mission STS-52/Lageos launches on October 22, 1992 (see below).

1986

January 28
Shuttle Challenger explodes in a huge fireball73 seconds after lift-off, killing all seven crewmembers of mission STS-51L, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. On this mission, Canadarm would have been used to deploy and retrieve a Spartan 203 autonomous platform.

February 22
Sweden's Viking spacecraft launched carrying Canada's ultra-violet auroroal imager.

March 18
Canada signs international agreements to become full partner of the International Space Station program.

May 7
Canada and Japan sign in Tokyo an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation between the two countries.

The National Research Council of Canada creates a Space Division to manage the Canadian Astronaut Program Office (the Astronaut Office is now part of the Canadian Space Agency) and Canada's new Space Station Program.

1987

March 19
Canada's GEODE (Gravity Experiment On Detector Elements) is launched on a Maser sounding rocket from the European Space Range in Kiruna, Sweden. The Canadian experiment is to produce cadmium/mercury telluride (CMT) crystals in microgravity.

June 19
The Institute of Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS) is inaugurated at York University as one of Ontario's Centres of Excellence. ISTS is renamed Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech), September 24, 1997.

1988

April 21
With Spar Aerospace Limited confirmed as industrial prime contractor, Canada invests $1185 million until year 2000 in a contribution to the Space Station, the Mobile Servicing System.

September 29
After a hiatus of nearly three years, Shuttle Discovery lifts off into the Florida sky for mission STS-26R, a mission to deploy a TDRS relay satellite. During this five-day mission, a Canadian fluid experiment, designed by Dr. Don Brooks of the University of British Columbia, is activated and monitored by astronaut George D. Nelson.

On the same day in Washington, D.C., Canada, the European Space Agency, Japan, and the United States sign multilateral and bilateral agreements that officially launch the Freedom International Space Station Program.

1989

January 30
A Black Brant 10 three-stage sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerospace is launched from Andoya, Norway, to perform a 15-minute suborbital flight experiment OEDIPUS-A (Observation of Electrical field Distributions in the Ionosphere Plasma: A Unique Strategy).

February 22
Launch from ISAS range in Kagoshima of Japan's EXOS-D science satellite (renamed Akebono after reaching orbit), carrying a Canadian-built instrument, the suprathermal ion mass spectrometer. It is the first foreign-built instrument to fly aboard a Japanese spacecraft.

March 1
Creation of the Canadian Space Agency; Larkin Kerwin is the first President.

May 31
Renewal for 10 years of the Canada-European Space Agency Cooperative Agreement. With status as Cooperative Member, Canada is the only non-European Member State.

July 12
Launch of the European Space Agency's experimental communications satellite Olympus, in which Canada participates. Inserted in a geostationary orbit, at 19 degrees longitude west, Olympus provides a test bed for advanced satellite communications technologies with four separate payloads: a two-channel high power direct broadcasting payload; a four-channel Specialized Services Payload; a payload for advanced communications experiments; and a beacon package for propagation experiments. Service is interrupted August 11, 1993 when the satellite loses Earth pointing attitude and begins spinning.

September 13
Industry, Science and Technology Canada minister signs a Memorandum of Understanding with colleagues in nine provinces for the RADARSAT Program. Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia agree to invest $52.9 million into the program. The federal government announces that its investment in RADARSAT has reached $330 million.

November 20
In Moscow, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signs a Commercial, Science and Technology Agreement covering Canada-USSR space research.

1990

January 12
Four days into the 12-day mission STS-32, the astronauts of Shuttle Columbia retrieve the LDEF, or Long-Duration Exposure Facility, a school-bus sized platform that had been left in orbit for nearly six years. Three trays on the facility contain material experiments that had been designed by Prof. Rod Tennyson of University of Toronto's Institute of Aerospace Science.

January 19
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Roberta Bondar is selected to be a Payload Specialist on mission STS-42/IML-1, a Spacelab mission aboard Discovery that will launch to space January 22, 1992 (see below).

January 26
A $146-million contract is awarded to Spar Aerospace for Phase 1 of the RADARSAT program. A $230-million contract follows for Phase 2, June 11, 1991.

March
Canada invests $15 million in the U.S. FUSE (Lyman Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) space telescope. Canada provides optical subsystems and will contribute to the exploitation of the satellite data.

April 25
On day 2 of the six-day mission STS-31, the Hubble Space Telescope, the first of NASA's Great Observatories, is deployed out of Discovery's cargo bay, with the help of Canadarm. Five Canadian university teams gain access to observation time on the space telescope.

The same day, a Canadian Black Brant 5 suborbital rocket lifts off the White Sands range, in New Mexico, to launch the COBRA (cosmic background radiation) astronomy payload. This Canadian experiment, which consists of a particle detector to measure fossil radiations resulting from the original Big Bang explosion, confirms discoveries made earlier by U.S. astronomy satellite COBE (cosmic background explorer).

October 6
For the first time, a Canadian scientific instrument is launched beyond Earth's orbit. The High Flux Telescope (HFT), designed by the National Research Council's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, is one of many instruments carried on the European Space Agency's Ulysses space probe, deployed out of the cargo bay of Shuttle Discovery, on the first day of mission STS-41. Ulysses, with a mission to study the two poles of the Sun, is the first man-made object to travel in space outside the ecliptic plane of solar orbit. The European probe flies over the Sun's south pole at a distance of 300 million kilometres on September 13, 1994, and climbs to its maximum latitude of 80.2 degrees north of the Sun's equator on Monday, July 31, 1995. The solar probe completed its first orbit of the Sun through its poles April 17, 1998.

October 30
Memorandum of Understanding is signed detailing space cooperation between Canada and Russia.

December 14
Bill C-16 that officially establishes the Canadian Space Agency in the Government of Canada is passed.

December 19
Telesat Mobile of Ottawa and American Mobile Satellite Corporation of Washington, D.C., award a contract to a team formed by Spar Aerospace and Hughes Aircraft of El Segundo, California, to build two MSAT mobile communications satellites.

1991

March 7
The federal government awards a $195-million Phase C contract to Spar Aerospace for advanced design of the space station's Mobile Servicing System (MSS).

April 4
Anik E2 communications satellite is launched by an Ariane 44P rocket. After the problematic C-band antenna is finally deployed in July, the geostationary satellite becomes operational in September.

April 5-11
During mission STS-37, the 17-ton Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO) is deployed out of Atlantis' cargo bay, with the help of the Canadarm, used for the 23rd time on a space shuttle mission. The GRO, second of NASA Great Observatories, is the heaviest payload ever deployed by the space shuttle. In the middeck of Atlantis, astronauts monitor the BIMDA (Bioserve Instrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispertion Apparatus) series of protein crystal growth (PCG) experiments to which participates Dr. Jurgen Sygusch of University of Sherbrooke, Quebec.

July 16
Launch of ERS-1, the first European Earth Observation satellite. Canada has been involved in its development and receives its data, which are downlinked to CCRS receiving stations in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Gatineau, Quebec.

September 12
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts-off for mission STS-48 and the deployment in a 57-degree-inclination orbit of the UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite), the first spacecraft of NASA's Mission To Planet Earth program. The science satellite carries 10 instruments, including Canada's WINDII (Wind Imaging Interferometer), an instrument of which the Principal Investigator is Prof. Gordon Shepherd of Toronto's York University.

September 26
Anik E1 is launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 44P rocket.

October 7-11
The 42nd Annual Congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) takes place in Montreal, sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency.

1992

1992 is International Space Year

January 17
The Canadian Space Agency launches a campaign to hire a second corps of astronauts.

January 22-30
Astronaut Roberta Bondar becomes the second Canadian, and first Canadian woman, in space aboard Discovery (STS-42).

March 19
At the White Sands range, in New Mexico, launch of a Canadian Black Brant 9 sounding rocket that carries the CSAR-1 (Canadian Space Agency Rocket) microgravity payload.

March 24
The privatization process of Telesat Canada is completed when the federal government sells all remaining shares to Alouette Telecommunications Inc.

March 25
Cosmonauts Aleksandr Volkov and Sergueï Krikalev, and German astronaut Klaus-Dietrich Flade return to Earth on Soyuz TM13. Krikalev has spent more than 10 months aboard space station Mir, during the historical events that saw the disbandment of USSR and the emergence of Russia as a new country. The crew is also bringing back a set of 24 Canadian microgravity experiments that were sent to Mir on January 25.

May 4
Dr. Roland Doré, former director of the École Polytechnique de Montréal, becomes the second President of the Canadian Space Agency.

May 7–16
During the inaugural flight of Shuttle Endeavour, astronauts of mission STS-49 proceed to repair the stranded Intelsat-VI communications satellite. Canadarm on its 26th mission, is used extensively to support spacewalks. For the first time, three astronauts walk in space at the same time, performing a record-breaking spacewalk that lasts 8 hours, 29 minutes.

June 8
From 5330 application forms, the Canadian Space Agency selects the four candidates who will form the second group of Canadian Space Agency Astronauts. They are: Air Force Capt. Chris A. Hadfield; Julie Payette, an engineer specialized in human-machine interface; Robert Stewart, a geophysicist; and Dr. Daffyd (David) R. Williams, an emergency medical doctor. A week later, Robert Stewart resigns for personal reasons. He is replaced by Air Force Capt. Michael John Mackay.

July 3
Astronauts Marc Garneau and newly-selected Chris Hadfield are selected by the Canadian Space Agency to become the first Canadian Mission Specialists. A month later, the two begin training in Houston, along with European Space Agency astronauts Jean-François Clervoy and Maurizio Cheli, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

July 31 – August 8
For the first time during a mission (STS-46), a non-American Mission Specialist flies on the space shuttle. European Space Agency astronaut Claude Nicollier from Switzerland is then responsible, as Mission Specialist, to deploy the EURECA platform out of the cargo bay of Shuttle Atlantis, operating Canadarm on its 27th mission.

September 12–20
During mission STS-47/Spacelab J, Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman in space, and Mamoru Mohri, the first professional Japanese astronaut on the space shuttle. Canada's Bread in Space experiment compares the behaviour of bread yeast in the absence of gravity to yeast in normal atmospheric conditions. The experiment is a Canadian Get Away Special (GAS) experiment, performed in a can stored in the cargo bay with little intervention required by astronauts.

October 6
A Chinese Long March CZ-2C rocket launches Freja, a Swedish science satellite that carries two Canadian instruments: the Ultra-Violet Auroral Imager (UVAI) and the Cold Plasma Analyser (CPA).

October 22 – November 1
The third Canadian Space Agency astronaut in space, Payload Specialist Steve MacLean, oversees the CANEX-2 set of Canadian experiments on mission STS-52, in particular, the Space Vision System (SVS) using Canadarm, now on its 29th mission. The geodesic satellite LAGEOS is deployed out of the cargo bay of Columbia.

1993

February 1
Cosmonauts Anatoly Soloviev and Sergueï Avdeev return to Earth after a 189-day stay on Mir, during which Avdeev activates a Canadian experiment to measure radioactivity in the station environment.

March 10
U.S. President Bill Clinton orders an overall restructuring of the Freedom International Space Station Program. On 17 June, the Clinton administration select Option Alpha that will replace Freedom.

End of June
Space Agency headquarters completed in Saint-Hubert, Quebec. The design evokes the space station. The building houses the astronaut training facilities, the RADARSAT Mission Control Room, the MOC (MSS Operation Centre) and labs devoted to life sciences, robotics, space systems, optics, and computer technology. In 1996, the building is officially designated as the John H. Chapman Space Centre, commemorating the scientist Canadians consider the father of their space program.

September 2
United States and Russia sign bilateral space agreements to include Russia in the International Space Station Program. During a meeting in Paris, on October 16, the four original partners greet Russia who becomes an official partner, on December 6 in Washington, D.C.

October 18 – November 1
During mission STS-58/SLS-2, a life sciences mission that takes places in the Spacelab module, fitted inside the cargo bay of Shuttle Columbia, astronauts perform three Canadian experiments on the vestibular system designed by Dr. Douglas Watt, director of McGill University's Aerospace Medical Research Unit.

December 2–13
During mission STS-61, the astronauts of Endeavour perform the first Hubble Space Telescope repair and servicing mission. Claude Nicollier operates the Canadarm to deploy the space telescope, and to support the record number of EVAs (five spacewalks) in a single mission.

1994

July 8– 23
During this second International microgravity laboratory mission (STS-65, aboard Shuttle Columbia), a series of Canadian experiments dealing with physiological changes of the spine in microgravity are performed by the crew. On this mission, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Marc Garneau becomes the first non-American CapCom (Capsule Communicator) at Mission Control in Houston.

June 3
The outlines of the Second Long-Term Space Plan are released. For the next ten years, the Canadian Space Program will be allocated $2.7 billion, including $500 million as the Canadian contribution to the International Space Station Program and upgraded support facilities for the RADARSAT program. There are also provisions for an Advanced Communications research program, the development of space technologies in partnership with industry and with other space agencies, funding for space science research in Canada, in particular in the areas of atmospheric studies and microgravity, and assignments of Canadian Astronauts for space shuttle missions.

July 15
Roland Doré resigns as CSA President to become president of the International Space University in Strasbourg, France.

September 2
Air Force Major Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut, has just completed Mission Specialist training and is assigned to mission STS-74, the second Shuttle-Mir Docking mission, scheduled to launch November 11, 1995.

November 21
William MacDonald (Mac) Evans becomes third President of the Canadian Space Agency, for a five-year mandate.

December 8
The CSAR-2 (Canadian Space Agency Rocket-2) mission is launched on a 14-minute suborbital flight from White Sands, New Mexico. CSAR-2 consists of five material processing experiments in microgravity.

1995

January 13
Dave Williams is selected as the third Canadian Mission Specialist. He starts training in Houston on March 6.

February 8
NASA contracts the Russian Space Agency US$190 million for the construction of what would become the first element of the International Space Station, the FGB module, renamed Zarya (Dawn), after its launch November 20, 1998.

April 19
Bob Thirsk is assigned as a Payload Specialist for his first space flight, mission STS-78, scheduled to launch June 20, 1996. The Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission will be the longest ever performed by a Canadian Space Agency Astronaut.

June 13
Canadian Astronaut Marc Garneau is assigned as a Mission Specialist to his second space flight, mission STS-77. This 10-day mission aboard Shuttle Endeavour will launch to space May 19, 1996.

November 4
RADARSAT is launched, making it Canada's first Earth-observation satellite.

November 6
A four-stage Black Brant XII sounding rocket lifts-off from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, to launch the 16-minute Oedipus-C experiment. At an altitude of 869 km, a payload consisting of two masses attached to each other by a conducting tether is released in such a way that the two masses move one km apart.

November 12–20
The fourth Canadian in space, Air Force Maj. Chris A. Hadfield, is not only the first Canadian Mission Specialist, he also is the first Canadian aboard space station Mir when he joins four crewmates on mission STS-74, the second Atlantis-Mir Docking Mission. Hadfield operates Canadarm to build the five-ton Russian Docking Module on the Orbiter Docking System.

December 5
In Beijing, the Canadian Space Agency signs an agreement with the China National Space Administration for an eventual cooperation in space science and technology between the two countries.

1996

March 22–31
Third Atlantis-Mir Docking Mission. The astronauts of mission STS-76 proceed to transfer of supplies and experiments to the Russian orbital complex, including the Canadian furnace QUELD 2 (Queen's University experiment in liquid-metal diffusion).

March 26
A short circuit in the power supply between one solar array and the communications payload of Telesat's Anik E1 satellite reduces its communications capacity.

April 20
An Ariane 42P lifts-off from Kourou to launch into orbit an MSAT mobile communications satellite on behalf of TMI Communications of Gloucester, Ontario.

April 26
Russian space station Mir is now complete with the docking of Priroda, the last of its six modules. The 20-ton module, launched three days earlier by a Proton rocket, carries various science hardware, including Canada's Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM) which protects experiments from vibrations of the spacecraft.

May 19–29
Aboard Shuttle Endeavour, Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian astronaut to fly in space twice, this time as a Mission Specialist on mission STS-77. This mission includes a number of experiments: Spacehab-4, Spartan 207, Inflatable Antenna Experiment, TEAMS. Garneau operates the Canadarm (Unit # 301/45th mission) to retrieve the Spartan 207 platform. He monitors the Commercial Float-Zone Furnace (CFZF), a Canadian Space Agency-led joint project also involving NASA and Germany. It is the first flight of the Aquatic Research Facility, another CSA experiment. In the payload bay of Endeavour, are two Canadian GAScan experiments: ACTORS (Atlantic Canada Thin Organic Semiconductors) and NANOGAS (Nanoporous Crystalline Semiconductors). The Canadian Get Away Special (GAS) GAScan experiments are performed in a can stored in the cargo bay with little intervention required by astronauts.

June 20 – July 7
Bob Thirsk becomes the fifth Canadian in space when he participates as a Payload Specialist on mission STS-78/Life and Microgravity Sciences (LMS), inside the Spacelab module in the cargo bay of Columbia. This 17-day mission is the longest for a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.

June 27
Canadian Space Agency Astronauts Steven G. MacLean and Julie Payette are selected to train as Mission Specialists. They move to Houston and join the 1996 class of NASA astronauts for initial training on August 12.

July 10
In Ottawa, Industry Canada Minister John Manley and European Space Agency Director General Jean-Marie Luton sign agreements on Canada's part in two European Space Agency programs: the General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) and the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems Programme (ARTES).

August 12
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Dave Williams has recently completed his training as Mission Specialist and is assigned to the crew of mission STS-90/Neurolab, a 16-day mission to study the neurological system in microgravity, for launch in April 1998.

August 29
From the Russian Cosmodrome of Plesetsk, the Interball-2 spacecraft is launched, carrying 11 scientific instruments, including Canada's Ultra-Violet Auroral Imager (UVAI), a camera system to study magnetic storm movements that take place in very high altitude over Earth's surface.

October 2
The Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, is officially renamed the John H. Chapman Space Centre to commemorate the father of the Canadian Space Program.

October 10
In Beijing, Mac Evans, CSA President, signs a Cooperative Agreement on Space between Canada and China with Wang Tongye, Deputy Minister of COSTIND (Commission for Science, Technology and National Defense Industry).

October 15
In Bangalore, India, Mac Evans, President of the CSA, signs a Cooperative Agreement on Space between Canada and India with Prof. Kasturi Rangan, President of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

November 4
Canadian Astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason is selected to fly as a Payload Specialist on mission STS-85/CRISTA-SPAS, slated to launch August 7, 1997. On Shuttle Discovery, Tryggvason is to test the new version of the Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM) he codesigned.

The same day, the Canadian Space Agency unveils its new logo.

1997

January
At its Space Systems facility in Brampton, Ontario, Spar Aerospace completes integration of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). The 17-metre long robotic arm is to launch  in 2000.

January 11
A giant solar storm is suspected of having caused the loss of Telstar 401, a communications satellite. The solar radiation surge is recorded on Earth by the 13 observatories of CANOPUS (Canadian Auroral Network for the Observation of Plasma in the Upper Atmosphere and Space), part of the CSA's Earth-Sun Physics Program.

January 12–22
During mission STS-81, the fifth Atlantis-Mir Docking Mission, U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger succeeds John Blaha as the next resident on the Russian space station. During his four-month stay, Linenger performs a Canadian experiment to measure astronaut sleep pattern in space. The Canadian-sponsored experiment is designed by Dr. Harvey Moldofsky, director of the Center for Sleep and Chronobiology of the Toronto Hospital. Linenger also processes more than 100 samples of another Canadian experiment, the QUELD-2 furnace (Queens University experiment in liquid-metal diffusion) mounted on the MIM (Microgravity Isolation Mount).

February 12
Launch from the Kagoshima space range, in Japan, of the HALCA (highly advanced laboratory for communications and astronomy) radio-astronomy satellite. The downlinked signals of the Japanese spacecraft are merged with those received through the radio telescopes of the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) world network. Astronomers use a recording correlator system designed in Canada by the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology at York University, and the Herzberg Institute's Radio Astronomy Observatory in Penticton, British Columbia.

February 28
Telesat announces plans to contract Lockheed Martin in building NIMIQ, the first Canadian direct broadcast satellite, for launch in May 1999.

April 8
During a visit to the White House in Washington, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announces that his government will invest $207 million in the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, a key element of the Mobile Servicing System, Canada's contribution to the International Space Station.

May 5
Launch of the first five satellites of the IRIDIUM system, a 66-spacecraft constellation that provides global mobile communications. COM DEV International of Cambridge, Ontario, designed and built 10 antennas for each satellite: four space-ground antennas; four intersatellite communications antennas; and two antennas for telemetry and control.

May 24
Shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth after completion of mission STS-84 (sixth docking mission to Mir), with astronaut Jerry Linenger who brings back 102 samples that he processed in a special furnace for Canada's QUELD 2, or the Queens University experiment in liquid-metal diffusion.

June 9
Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris A. Hadfield is selected for mission STS-100/6A, the 6th Space Station Assembly Flight which launched on April 19, 2001. Hadfield became the first Canadian to walk in space when he installed the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) on the U.S. Destiny lab module.

July 4
After 497 million kilometres in space, Mars Pathfinder lands on the Red Planet in the Ares Vallis Plain. Two days later, the Sojourner rover descends a ramp built by Astro Aerospace, a California subsidiary of Spar Aerospace. The ramp is based on the first Canadian technology in space, the STEM (storable tubular extendible mechanism).

August 7–19
Bjarni Tryggvason becomes the sixth Canadian astronaut in space for mission STS-85 to deploy the CRISTA-SPAS pallet. As a Payload Specialist, he tests the next-generation Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM), a unique Canadian device that he codesigned. A first-generation MIM is operating on space station Mir.

September 14
The first high-resolution satellite image ever taken of the South Pole is acquired by RADARSAT-1, Canada's first Earth Observation satellite operated by the Canadian Space Agency. This unique image was obtained by a yaw rotation of 180°. This manoeuvre is performed for the Antarctic Mapping Mission, so the radar can image to the left of the satellite track instead of the right to cover the South Pole.

September 16
To mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol, the Canadian Space Agency unveils an optical sensor that will be carried on Sweden's Odin, to launch in 1999. The $6-million and 12-kilogram OSIRIS (optical spectrograph and infrared imager system) innovative space science instrument, designed and built by Routes Inc. of Kanata, west of Ottawa, consists of two environmental instruments: a precision imaging spectrograph and a three-telescope near-infrared imager.

September 25
Shuttle Atlantis lifts off for mission STS-86, the 7th docking mission with Mir. The CAPE experiments, the most important set of space protein crystal growth (PCG) experiments that Canada has ever performed are transferred. Some 800 protein samples from 15 universities and 12 secondary schools are processed in four months by U.S. astronaut David Wolf. The CAPE samples are taken back to CSA headquarters in Quebec on February 2, 1998.

1998

February 27
The Canadian Space Agency selects MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia, to build RADARSAT-2, a lighter, cheaper and more advanced follow-on satellite to RADARSAT-1. The second Canadian Earth-observation satellite will have a resolution of three metres. The CSA invests $225 million in the $305-million program. MDA contributes $80 million and will own and operate the spacecraft.

April 17 – May 3
Mission Specialist Dr. Dave R. Williams becomes the seventh Canadian astronaut in space and the first non-American medical officer on a space shuttle mission when he joins six crewmates for mission STS-90/Neurolab, the last mission on the Spacelab module, in the cargo bay of Shuttle Columbia. During the 16-day mission, Williams performs 26 experiments studying the influence of microgravity on the nervous system. Two are Canadian: one on visuo-motor coordination during space flight using the Visuo-Motor Coordination Facility (VCF) developed by Dr. Barry Fowler of York University; the other on the role of visual cues in spatial orientation (VISO), developed jointly by MIT professor Charles Oman and Dr. Ian Howard of CRESTech, York University. On February 10, 2000, Williams receives an award for his contributions to the mission.

June 5
Four days into the last of nine docking mission to Mir, during mission STS-91 aboard Shuttle Discovery, the upgraded Canadarm (Unit # 201, 50th space shuttle mission) is deployed for testing the new Servo Power Amplifiers (SPA) designed and built by Spar Aerospace in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

June
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Dr. Dave R. Williams is named Director of the Space and Life Sciences Directorate by George Abbey, the Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Williams, who remains an active astronaut, is the first non-American citizen to hold this position.

July 3
At precisely 1:12 p.m. EDT on this Friday (Saturday, July 4, 3:12 a.m., in Japan), Japan's first Martian probe, Planet-B, is launched from the Kagoshima Space Center. The probe, renamed Nozomi as soon as it reaches orbit, carries a small, 3.25-kilogram Canadian instrument, the Thermal Plasma Analyzer (TPA) to measure the local Martian plasma density, drift velocity of charged particles in the thin atmosphere, and temperature, in an effort to understand energy processes in the planet's magnetosphere. Andrew Yau, a professor at the Institute of Space Research of the University of Calgary, in Alberta, is the Principal Investigator for this experiment. A performance problem in Nozomi's propulsion system in December pushes back the rendezvous with Mars in December 2003 or January 2004 rather than on its planned date, October 11, 1999.

August 4
In presence of Dan Goldin, the NASA Administrator, the Canadian Space Agency announces the assignments of astronauts Julie Payette and Marc Garneau to two station assembly missions. Julie Payette, who will become the eight Canadian Space Agency Astronaut in space, is assigned to mission STS-96/2A.1, a logistics and supply mission, while Marc Garneau, for his third space flight, is assigned to mission STS-97/4A, during which he will deploy the first set of giant solar arrays.

August 24
For the first time in 15 years, Canada launches a giant balloon for the study of the ozone layer. Called MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen Trend Assessment), the 25-story high balloons carries six instruments that study the modifications that took place in the atmosphere in the last 15 to 20 years. A second Canadian balloon, BAM (balloon anisotropy measurement) is launched a few days later from NASA's National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas.

August 26
SED Systems Inc. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is awarded a $23-million European Space Agency (ESA) contract to provide a telemetry, tracking, and command antenna system for the Rosetta mission which will be the first user of this deep space antenna. Rosetta is launch in 2003 on an Ariane 5 rocket and rendezvous nine years later with Comet Wirtanen. The deep-space antenna system will be installed at ESA's deep-space facilities in Perth, Western Australia.

October 29 – November 7
Legendary U.S. astronaut John Herschel Glenn returns to space 36 years after his historic flight on Friendship 7. The 77-year-old Ohio Senator participates in mission STS-95 aboard Shuttle Discovery. During this mission, the oldest astronaut in space is responsible for tending two of three Canadian experiments: the OSTEO experiment for growing bone cells in microgravity, and SepTech, a fluid physics experiment to separate healthy cells from cancerous ones. The third is a protein crystal growth experiment.

November 20
A Proton rocket lifts off in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to launch the first element of the International Space Station, the Zarya (formerly known as FGB, by its Russian acronym). The 17-tonne module is covered with five special 16.5-cm black targets, elements of the Canadian Space Vision System (CSVS). Canada will install some 600 of these on the space station.

December 4
Launch of Shuttle Endeavour with the six-member crew of mission STS-88/2A, the first International Space Station Assembly mission. Using the upgraded Canadarm for its first operational mission, Astronaut Nancy Currie builds the Unity node on the Orbiter Docking System and, two days later, grabs the Zarya module to connect the two first components of the station. During this process, the use of the Orbiter Space Vision System (OSVS), an offshoot of the Canadian Space Vision System (CSVS), is essential, as the Unity node blocks the view of the approaching Russian module.

December 21
MDA awards an $90-million contract to Spar Aerospace Space Systems in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, for the design and development of the synthetic aperture radar for RADARSAT-2 .

December 30
Spar Aerospace announces an agreement to sell the Satellite Products unit of its Space Systems Division in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, to Electromagnetic Sciences, Inc. (EMS), of Norcross, Georgia.

1999

February 4
Industry Canada minister John Manley announces that the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is selected to fly on SCISAT-1, the first all-Canadian science satellite in 30 years.

March 12
The SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System) 17.6-metre long robotic arm, a key element of Canada's Mobile Servicing System (MSS) for the International space station, is officially transferred to its owner, the Canadian Space Agency, by its industrial prime contractor, Spar Aerospace Ltd. of Brampton, Ontario. The $1.4-billion SSRMS is shipped two months later (see May 16 ) to Florida, at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility, to undergo integration testing with other elements of the space station. The SSRMS is slated for launch in 2001, on Mission STS-100/6A.

March 19
The sale of Spar Aerospace's Space Robotics unit in Brampton, Ontario, to MDA of Richmond, British Columbia, for $63 million, marks the end of Spar's role in the space industry. MDA renames the unit MacDonald, Dettwiler Space and Advanced Robotics Ltd.

April 16
After 22 shuttle missions, Spacelab-Europe's contribution to the Space Shuttle program-is officially handed to the European Space Agency at a ceremony at the Bremen airport in Germany, the city where the space laboratory module was built more than two decades ago. The space module is housed in a special exhibition hall at the Bremen airport, with a new role as the foundation stone of the Space Academy Bremen, a new educational venture that gives students and the public the opportunity to learn about Europe's achievements into human space flight. One of two flight units, the Spacelab returned to Europe flew for the last time in April 1998, carrying the STS-90/Neurolab mission Canadian Mission Specialist Dave Williams took part in that mission.

May 16
Canada's new space station robotic arm, the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) is duly delivered to the Space Station Processing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 7:30 a.m. on this Sunday morning (see: 12 March).

May 21
A Russian Proton-K heavy-lift launcher lifts off the launch pad at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying to geostationary orbit the new Telesat Canada's NIMIQ high-powered Direct Broadcast Satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin Space and Communications, the NIMIQ satellite provides direct-to-home satellite television services, available to the user on a 46-cm dish antenna (see also 28 February 1997).

May 27 – June 6
Aboard Shuttle Discovery, Mission Specialist Julie Payette becomes the eighth Canadian Space Agency Astronaut in orbit and the first one to board the embryonic space station when she joins six other crewmates on mission STS-96/2A.1, the first logistics mission to the International Space Station (ISS), making use of the Canadarm in its 53rd shuttle flight. The Canadian robot arm supports an EVA that lasts nearly eight hours. While Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa operates the arm to move EV1 Tammy Jernigan around Discovery's cargo bay, Julie Payette acts as the "choreographer" of the spacewalk from the flight deck. Later, Payette becomes the third Canadian astronaut to operate the arm when she uses it to inspect the targets of the Canadian Space Vision System. Upon completion of the station leg of the mission, Payette is responsible for the ejection out of the cargo bay, of the basketball-shaped STARSHINE educational satellite.

June 8
John Manley, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency, introduces legislation in the House of Commons which legally formalizes Canada's partnership in the International Space Station (ISS). The Civil International Space Station Agreement Implementation Act benefits Canada by staking out a long-term formal role for the Station in the Canadian Space Program.

June 24
Following successful lift-off at 11:44 a.m. EDT, a Boeing Delta II Med-Lite rocket places the 1,360-kg FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer), a six-metre-tall astronomy satellite, into the planned 768-km circular orbit inclined 25 degrees. The Canadian Space Agency has provided critical hardware for the US$215 million spacecraft, two Fine Error Sensor instruments for pointing accurately the telescope.

August 9
SPACEHAB, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based space company that flies its commercial SpaceHab module inside the cargo bay of the space shuttle, purchases from the Canadian Space Agency rights to an experiment locker aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This agreement marks the opening of the ISS to commercial users, making SPACEHAB the only company with direct commercial access to Station research opportunities, and making the CSA the first space agency to commercialize portions of its allocated space aboard the station.

September 18
Mac Evans, President of the CSA, and Isao Uchida, President of Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA), sign an Agreement on the exchange of personnel to allow for the training of Japanese astronauts to operate Canada's Mobile Servicing System (MSS).

December 18
The long-awaited launch of the US$1.3 billion Terra (formerly called EOS-AM) satellite finally takes place as a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS takes to orbit the 4765.4-kg remote sensing spacecraft, the first of 25 spacecraft of various sizes to be launched through 2003 to serve NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) program. Terra carries five instrument packages, three from NASA, one from Japan, and Canada's MOPITT (Measurement of the Ozone Pollution In The Troposphere) sensor. EMS Technology Canada Ltd., of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, has also designed and developed the steerable antenna system that allows Terra to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).

December 19 – 27
Mission STS-103/3rd Servicing Mission of the Hubble Space Telescope, aboard Shuttle Discovery. During this nine-day mission, the 12.5-ton Hubble telescope is buttressed by a major increase in computer and data storage capability, new battery components, an upgraded guidance system and new gyroscopes. Operated by European Space Agency astronaut Jean-François Clervoy, Canadarm is used for a 54th time during a shuttle mission.

December 23
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), the company responsible for the development, marketing and operation of the RADARSAT-2 remote sensing radar satellite, awards a $74-million contract to Italy's Alenia Spazio to build the bus and antenna deployment platform for the RADARSAT-1 follow-on spacecraft. Alenia is also developing the bus from its Prima satellite platform.

2000

January 12
Dr. John Hutchings of the National Research Council Canada's Herzberg Astrophysics Institute, reports at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Atlanta about early Canadian discoveries, working with the FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) spacecraft. The astronomy satellite made the discovery that thousands of exploding stars left a football-shaped halo of searing hot gas extending 5,000 to 10,000 light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way.

January 19 – 25
After a series of engineering exposures, the three EPIC cameras of the XMM (X-ray Multi-mirror Mission), the European Space Agency astronomy satellite that was launched December 10, 1999, take their first images of three different extragalactic regions of the Universe: part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Hickson Cluster Group 16 (HCG-16), and the star HR 1099. The Large Magellanic Cloud, also known as the Nebula Major, is about 20,000 light-years in diameter. The HCG-16 is one of approximately a hundred compact galaxy clusters listed by Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson in the 1980s. HR 1099 is a sixth magnitude star located about a 100 light-years from the Sun.

February 7
John Manley, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency, announces the creation of the John H. Chapman Excellence Award, to recognize and reward exceptional accomplishments in the space science and technology sector.

February 10
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Dr. Dave R. Williams, is also head of NASA/Johnson Space Center's Directorate of Space and Life Sciences, and he receives the prestigious Melbourne W. Boynton Award of the American Astronautical Society for 1999. Williams is cited for his extraordinary contributions to the successful implementation of the STS-90/Neurolab mission, a 16-day flight beginning 17 April 1998 (see that date) aboard Columbia.

February 26
To mark 160 years of Canadian scientific research on the Northern Lights, a 20-metre, four-stage Black Brant-12 Canadian sounding rocket lifts off the NASA launching pad at Poker Flat, near Fairbanks, Alaska, and hurtles the GEODESIC (Geoelectrodynamics and Electro-Optical Detection of Electron and Suprathermal Ion Currents) mission 1,000 km into the heart of the aurora borealis on a 17-minute flight, before falling into the Beaufort Sea. The instrument examines small one-million-degree-Celsius pockets of energy in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The sounding rocket also carries NASA instruments to measure electromagnetic fields and energetic charged particles. Both the GEODESIC payload and its launcher were built by Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg.

May 14–17
Spacebound: CSA's Space Science Sector presents the 8th Canadian Microgravity Conference, Spacebound 2000, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

November 30
Marc Garneau, first Canadian to ever go to space, embarks on his third space mission as a crew member of STS-97.

2001

February 20
Launch of OSIRIS onboard Sweden's third scientific satellite, Odin.

March 8
Launch of STS-102 (ISS-5A.1), carrying Canada's first space science experiment for the International Space Station, "H-Reflex," a space life science experiment on spinal cord excitability.

April 19
Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield, on the STS-100, to deliver Canadarm2 to the International Space Station. Chris Hadfield becomes the first Canadian to perform an Extra Vehicular Activity, or spacewalk.

May 25–26
CSA hosts the 3rd Canadian Space Exploration Workshop.

June 5–7
ISS Forum 2001 - International Space Station Utilisation Conference covering both research and commercial utilisation opportunities.

June 18–22
The CSA hosts the 6th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space.

September 28
Marc Garneau becomes President of the Canadian Space Agency. The Honourable Brian Tobin announces Garneau's appointment, effective November 22, 2001.

December 5
Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched December 5 carries a double dose of Canadian science towards the International Space Station (ISS). The innovative Extra-Vehicular Activity Radiation Monitors (EVARM) experiment is used to measure the amount of radiation astronauts receive during spacewalks. The Hoffman-Reflex experiment, or H-Reflex is flying for the third time on a shuttle mission to the Station. H-Reflex measures how human reflexes are affected by microgravity.

2002

January 17
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters To help rescue operations during disasters, the space agency members of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters launch an innovative website during the Charter Evaluation Workshop in Paris www.disasterscharter.org

March 1
ENVISAT, the European Space Agency's most advanced Earth-observation satellite is launched successfully. The Canadian Space Agency, a cooperating member of ESA, and Canadian private sector partners, play a key role in the success of this project.

March 6
The Canadian Space Agency, RADARSAT International (RSI) and the Department of Industry, Trade and Rural Development of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador agree to provide the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador access to RADARSAT-1 data and data products at favourable government rates, as negotiated with RSI, the Canadian company responsible for the worldwide marketing, processing, and distribution of RADARSAT-1 data.

March 7
The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT) demonstrates Canadian drilling technology that could be used in a future mission to collect samples on Mars. NORCAT is conducting a feasibility study for the Canadian Space Agency on how Canadian expertise in mining could play a role in exploring the Red Planet.

June 5
Canada's newest contribution to the International Space Station—the Mobile Base System (MBS)—is launched with Space Shuttle Endeavour.

June 9
On June 9, astronauts Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin began their first spacewalk to begin installation of the second element of Canada's contribution to the International Space Station, the Mobile Base System.

June 10
Canadarm2's new work platform, known as the Mobile Base System is now fully operational after being "plugged in" by space shuttle astronauts Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin.

June 14
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Astronaut Steve MacLean received the CSA's robotic operators wings following a second week-long training session at the Agency's state-of-the-art Operations and Training Simulator facility in Saint-Hubert.

July 2
Canada's SCISAT-1 unveils first science satellite in over 30 years. It was unveiled at a ceremony at Magellan Aerospace's Bristol facility in Winnipeg.

August 1
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Dynacon Enterprises Limited, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia (UBC) unveiled Canada's first microsatellite, housing its first space telescope, MOST (microvariability and oscillations of stars), scheduled for launch in April 2003.

September 19
Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency, announced the awarding of a $400,000 contract to MDA of Richmond, B.C., to support the Canadian Space Agency in defining Canada's contribution to European missions to Mars, and the NASA-led Mars Science Laboratory mission.

2003

January 16
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Canadian scientists fly two research projects involving several experiments onboard Columbia. These experiments (OSTEO-2) could ultimately have applications in the health sector and further our understanding of bone loss during space flight. Two science teams represent the Canadian academic community and the third is a joint venture between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and two industrial partners.

April 23
The official name of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator "Dextre" is announced. This Canadian advanced technology robot represents the power of innovation, technology and engineering that brings our space operations to a new plane. Dextre is the third and last component of the Mobile Servicing System, Canada's contribution to the International Space Station.

May 22
The Canadian Space Agency announces that the OSIRIS instrument (Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System), flying onboard Swedish satellite Odin, will keep providing detailed data relating to ozone depletion for one more year, as the satellite and instruments, including an advanced radiometer for microwave radiation, are still functional after having completed their two- year initial mission.

June 6
CSA and the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) creates opportunities for Canadian researchers to take part in a study that will hopefully shed light on the physiological changes occurring during long-term bedrest. Changes, such as the loss of bone and muscle mass seen in astronauts during space flights are similar to those of conditions seen in patients here on Earth.

June 30
CSA confirms the successful launch of its first space telescope from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Called MOST (microvariability and oscillations of stars), the telescope was launched at 10:15 AM EDT, and released into orbit at 11:46 AM EDT on a booster ("Rockot") operated by Eurockot Launch Services GmbH of Bremen, Germany.

July 21
Canada-U.S. satellite gets a triple brain transplant. The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite is given a new lease on life following the successful implementation of new software in three on-board computers controlling the precision pointing of the telescope.

August 4
After a perfect launch and orbit insertion one month earlier, Canada's first space telescope–called MOST – opens its eye to the cosmos for the first time. Astronomers traditionally call this milestone for a telescope "first light."

August 13
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) launches SCISAT from NASA's launch facilities near Lompoc, California. During its two-year mission, SCISAT will help a team of Canadian and international scientists improve their understanding of the depletion of the ozone layer, with a special emphasis on the changes occurring over Canada and in the Arctic.

August 15
Canadian Space Agency President Marc Garneau speaks to over 120 teachers at the Agency's headquarters during the closing session of the CSA's three-day annual Space Educators' Conference.

September 26
The eight Canadian Space Agency astronauts who have taken part in space missions unveil stamps in their honour.

October 5
Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Infrastructure, Allan Rock, and Canadian Space Agency President, Marc Garneau, announce the launch of the Government of Canada's $155 million National Satellite Initiative. This joint project between Infrastructure Canada, Industry Canada, and CSA will provide high-speed broadband Internet access services via satellite to communities located in the Far and Mid North, and in isolated or remote areas of Canada.

October 8
Canada's space industry will directly benefit from an Arrangement signed between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) that ensures Canada's participation in the Development and Validation Phase of Europe's Galileo Program.

October 31
Gordon G. Shepherd is bestowed the prestigious John H. Chapman Award of Excellence in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the Canadian Space Program, by Marc Garneau, President of the CSA.

November 3
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) announce the creation of a new program that will fund Canadian University space researchers and encourage them to build industry alliances.

November 4
The CSA celebrates eight productive years in space with RADARSAT-1, surpassing all expectations for a mission that was initially planned for five years.

November 10
It is announced that half a million Heinz tomato seeds will be launched to the International Space Station onboard a Russian rocket in early 2004 as part of the Tomatosphere Project. Students across Canada have an opportunity to plant these seeds upon their return in school science experiments.

November 20
The Canadian Space Agency awards MDA $1.2 million for Phase A for a key scientific instrument of the NASA Phoenix Mission, set to go to Mars in 2007.

2004

January 31
Approximately 500,000 Heinz tomato seeds launched onboard a Russian Progress vehicle arrived at the International Space Station where they stayed six months in a micro-gravity environment.

February 6
The Canadian Space Agency announces the CASSIOPE mission which will require the building of an innovative satellite platform adaptable for a wide range of assignments, including science, technology, Earth observation, geological exploration and high capacity information delivery. MDA of Richmond, B.C., the prime contractor for CASSIOPE, will lead a Canadian industrial team to develop both the space and ground infrastructure and will operate the spacecraft.

February 23
The Canadian Space Agency is celebrating the third anniversary of the launch and activation of OSIRIS onboard the Swedish satellite Odin. OSIRIS is a Canadian instrument that continues to capture precise data on ozone depletion. The scientific mission, with partners Sweden, Finland and France, is completing its third year and the instrument and satellite are continuing to perform very well.

March 10
Bristol Aerospace, the Winnipeg division of  Magellan Aerospace Corporation, is selected by the Canadian Space Agency to design Canada's multi-mission small-satellite platform. The contract, valued at $2 million, covers the preliminary design stages of this small-satellite platform. The first demonstration of the new bus design will take place on the recently announced CASSIOPE Mission, scheduled for launch in 2007.

March 11
CSA confirms the full commissioning of its new SCISAT satellite, launched in August 2003 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The two-year Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is now underway.

March 29
Eighteen contracts were awarded by CSA to Canadian companies for the development of applications in preparation for RADARSAT-2 satellite data. These specialized applications respond to existing and emerging environmental issues worldwide. Thirteen companies will develop these projects through funding provided by the Earth Observation Application Development Program.

July 17
In a picture-perfect launch at 8:44 p.m. EDT, Anik F2, Telesat Canada's innovative, high-speed Ka-band, multimedia telecommunications satellite ascends from the forest canopy of the Arianespace launch facilities in Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. With Ka-band technology, low-cost, two-way satellite delivery will be available for wireless broadband Internet connections, telemedicine, telelearning, teleworking and e-commerce in the most remote regions of Canada.

July 23
Space agency leaders from the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada met at the ESA Technical Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to discuss International Space Station (ISS) cooperation activities. At this meeting, the Partners unanimously endorsed the station's technical configuration and reviewed the status of on-orbit operations and plans. The new station configuration should be completed by the end of the decade, accommodating elements from each of the Partners. The configuration allows for increased use and will soon accommodate a crew of more than three people.

September 1st
Scientists from the Canadian Space Agency, Environment Canada, the University of Toronto, York University and the University of Waterloo launched a large research balloon in an intensive study of the ozone layer over Canada. The balloon, MANTRA, as tall as a 20-storey building, was carrying a half tonne of scientific instruments 40 km high in the sky over Saskatchewan.

September 16
Canada will build a key component of the gigantic James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to be launched by NASA in August 2011. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently awarded a $5-million contract to Ottawa-based EMS Technologies' Space and Technology Group for the design of the fine guidance sensor, in partnership with COM DEV of Cambridge, Ontario.

October 4
CSA announces that Robert Thirsk  will lead the NEEMO 7 mission, replacing Dave Williams who underwent a medical evaluation for a recent condition. Both Canadian astronauts are medical practitioners.

October 5
At a world space conference, Marc Garneau, President of the Canadian Space Agency, and Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, highlight 25 years of collaboration between Canada and Europe.

October 6
The 20th anniversary of historic space flight of Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to go to space is celebrated in Vancouver during the International Astronautical Congress.

October 7
The world's largest commercial communications satellite, Telesat's Anik F2, begins full operations following final in-orbit testing.

November 4
RADARSAT-1, Canada's "eye-in-the-sky," completed its ninth year of operation—well beyond its five-year expected lifetime. Over the years, it has delivered precision images and garnered 15% of the world's Earth observation market for Canada. Canadian Space Agency satellite operations engineers continue to innovate and extend the life of the world first commercial microwave radar satellite.

December 10
Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Bob Thirsk was selected as a backup mission specialist and trained with European and Russian crewmembers in preparation for a Soyuz flight scheduled for launch and rendezvous with the International Space Station in April 2005. As a backup mission specialist for ESA Astronaut Roberto Vittori of Italy, Bob Thirsk also joined Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and NASA Astronaut John Phillips.

2005

January 13
Canada's space community collaborates with space nations to provide satellite images of before and after south Asia's devastating tsunami on December 26 to aid rescue and humanitarian efforts.

January 26
At the Montréal meeting of the heads of space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada delegates review and advance International Space Station cooperation and NASA's plans for Space Shuttle return to flight.

February 25
As part of the 2005 federal budget, the development and construction of a series of three Earth observation satellites is announced.

April 15
Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk is a veteran astronaut and serves as backup for European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, who pilots Soyu and docks it with the space station.

May 18
An investment of $20.4 million in 44 research and development contracts is announced. The investment ensures that Canada maintains a global niche market advantage in the design of emerging space technologies and applications.

May 19
Two of Canada's finest space pioneers, Larry Clarke and John D. MacNaughton are presented the John H. Chapman Award of Excellence. The award acknowledges those who have contributed to the advancement of the Canadian Space Program through a lifetime of achievement in space science and technology.

May 31
The Soret Coefficient in Crude Oil, or SCCO, is one of the experiments aboard a research satellite launched on FOTON-M2, rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This collaborative project involves C-CORE of St. John's, Newfoundland, Ryerson University in Toronto, and an international team of researchers.

June 13
Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Mexico conducted an unusual experiment using a 2,000-kg telescope attached to a huge helium balloon flying at 38,000 metres. BLAST (Balloon-borne Large Aperture Sub-millimetre Telescope) stares deep into the sky to study distant stars and galaxies. From Kiruna, Sweden BLAST flies for five days before reaching Inuvik.

2006

April 28, 2006
Launch of NASA's CloudSat satellite. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) provided a crucial high-power technological component for the cloud radar onboard CloudSat that will help researchers improve weather forecasting in the future and better understand climate change.

September 9-21, 2006
During mission STS-115, Canadian Astronaut Steve MacLean and his crewmates successfully resumed the assembly of the International Space Station. They delivered and installed on the Station new truss segments and solar arrays, doubling the power capacity of the orbiting laboratory.

Steve MacLean also became the first Canadian to operate Canadarm2 in space and the second Canadian to perform a spacewalk.

2007

August 8 - 21, 2007
The top priority of mission STS-118 was to deliver and assemble the S5 truss segment to the ISS. Canadian Astronaut Dave Williams played a key role in accomplishing this task and at the same time set a Canadian record by spending more than 19 hours outside the space station during three spacewalks. He also conducted a Canadian scientific experiment, called PMDIS (Perceptual-Motor Deficits in Space), with NASA colleague Alvin Drew.

August 4, 2007
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander with Canada's meteorological station aboard was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 5:26 a.m. EDT. Phoenix landed safely on Mars on May 25, 2008 - planting the maple leaf on the Red planet for the first time!

December 14, 2007
Launch of the Canadian Earth observation satellite, RADARSAT-2. With three times the resolution of its predecessor, the commercial radar satellite provides innovative technology to facilitate maritime and ice surveillance, natural disaster management, environmental monitoring, resource management and mapping initiatives in Canada and around the world.

2008

March 19, 2008
The robot Dextre, the third and final component of the International Space Station's Canadian Mobile Servicing System, is installed on the orbital outpost, freeing astronauts from tasks requiring them to venture out of the Station.

May 25, 2008
Carried aboard the Phoenix Mars Lander, Canada's meteorological station touches down on Mars, where it begins its study of the climate and environment and discovers snow forming in the atmosphere of the Red Planet.