OTTAWA – Canada’s first satellite in space was recognized as a national historic event Wednesday at a ceremony in Ottawa.
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird paid tribute to the then Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment (DRTE) who was responsible for the design, deployment and global scientific success of the Alouette 1 Satellite Programme.
“The creation of the Alouette 1 Satellite Programme was the beginning of Canada’s hugely successful space programme,” said Minister Baird, in a statement. “I am pleased to commemorate the national importance of this outstanding historical event.”
The United States asked its allies to participate in its space program in 1959. Canada, through the DRTE, proposed to study the ionosphere, a complex layer of ionized gas high above the Earth, using an innovative sounding experiment. When it became clear that the sounders required for the experiment could not be designed independently of the satellite, the DRTE determined it would design the entire satellite.
With support from the emerging Canadian space industry, Dr. John H. Chapman and his research team not only succeeded in building Alouette 1, they planned and tested it so thoroughly that it sent scientific data back to Earth for an unprecedented ten years, without failure, until it was turned off from Earth. Analysis of the data revealed many new features of the ionosphere and clarified the limitations of high-frequency radio communications in Canada.
The commemorative celebration took place at the Communications Research Centre Canada, which was formed in the wake of Alouette’s success.
