Security in Space The Next Generation - UNIDIR

CANADA’S PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE SECURITY
Pearl Williams
I will talk briefl y on Canada’s perspective on space security, what we have
done in the past and where we aspire to be in the “next generation”.
As many of you are aware, less than two weeks ago, on 18 March 2008,
Canada’s two-armed robot called Dextre was successfully installed on the
International Space Station. I mention this as evidence not only of Canada’s
leading role in space robotics, but also of our continued commitment to
international collaboration toward the peaceful use of outer space. You
will also be aware of the successful launch of the RADARSAT 2 Earth
observation satellite in December 2007. This satellite is one of the world’s
most advanced commercially available Earth observation image providers
and will provide users world wide with a range of high-quality data products.
It will signifi cantly contribute to monitoring the environment and to natural
resource management.
It should come as no surprise, given Canada’s strong and continuing
advocacy of the non-weaponization of outer space, that Canada has signed
and ratifi ed the principal treaties governing space exploration (the 1967
Outer Space Treaty, the 1972 Convention on International Liability for
Damage Caused by Space Objects and the 1975 Convention on Registration
of Objects Launched into Outer Space).
Nonetheless, if that were all Canada did, we would merely be observing the
status quo. If we refl ect on the importance of outer space to humankind
over the 50 or so years since the launch of Sputnik, what will we observe?
There have been a number of signifi cant changes.
Firstly, there is an increasing dependence on outer space as part of our
“collective infrastructure”—from global communication and navigation
links to the collection of environmental and natural resource management
information.
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