The Canadian space program today is best known for the space shuttle’s Canadarm robotic arm, the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station, and the Canadian astronaut program. But Canadian space achievements date back to the early 1960's, when a fledgling space program made Canada the third nation to have a presence in space. For Canada, the space age began on September 29, 1962, with the launch of the satellite Allouette 1.

Canada had experimented with rocketry since the late 1950's, with the Black Brant sounding rockets built by Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, and launched from the rocket range at Fort Churchill, Manitoba. But these rockets could spend only a few minutes studying the upper atmosphere or the northern lights before falling back to Earth; they were not powerful enough to get into orbit, where they could stay in space indefinitely.

Allouette was born out of a cooperative program with the United States in the early days of the "space race". On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union orbited their first satellite, Sputnik. Within hours of its launch, the new satellite's radio "beep" was recorded by Canadian engineers, including a young scientist by the name of John H. Chapman, at the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment (DRTE). Chapman would become the driving force behind Canada's first satellite, and play a key role in developing this country's aerospace industry.

The United States followed Sputnik with Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. The Americans also issued an invitation to their allies to design and build satellites for launch on future US rockets. This opened the door to space for Canada, and Chapman jumped at the chance.

Allouette I was an ambitious project for a country new to the space race. Canadian engineers and scientists worked to design a satellite that could measure the ionosphere, the region of the atmosphere from 80km to 1000km altitude that was very important to long-range radio reception. In the days before satellite communications, long-range radio signals were bounced off the ionosphere to distant corners of the globe. Understanding the ionosphere was the key to worldwide communications. Allouette I would measure the ionosphere from above, over a wide range of radio frequencies.

The project pushed the limits of early 60's technology. Building a satellite that could withstand the rigors of a rocket launch, that could carry 40-m long antenna and yet fit inside the rocket's nosecone, and that could measure a wide range of radio channels at once was something that had never been done by anyone, let alone a country new to space. In fact, American officials were certain that the satellite was too complicated and delicate to survive the stresses of launch. NASA experts privately estimated that the satellite would last a couple of hours at most before failing.

On September 29, 1962, Allouette I rode an American Thor-Agena rocket into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in northern California. The satellite deployed successfully, and began transmitting its measurements of the ionosphere to ground stations on Earth. Canada had become the third nation to have its own satellite in orbit, and the seeds of the future Canadian space program had been sow.

Allouette I outlasted NASA's estimated two-hour lifetime by a huge margin: Canadian engineers on the ground turned the satellite off, or retired it, ten years after it was launched. . It was joined by its sister, Allouette II, in 1965, and follow-ons ISIS I in 1969 and ISIS II in 1971. Allouette I is still in orbit today at an altitude of nearly 1000km, where it will remain for thousands of years as a monument to Canadian ingenuity and accomplishment.

But the legacy of Allouette I has had even longer-lasting effects. Today, Canada is a world leader in space systems, building scientific and remote sensing satellites such as Radarsat, and communications satellites such as Anik. Canadian astronauts have flown aboard the space shuttle and lived on the Russian space station Mir and the International Space Station. Canadian technology powers the shuttle's Canadarm and the Space Station's Canadarm2.

The MOST satellite, to be launched in 2003, will be Canada's first space telescope. Canadian science instruments are on the way to Mars aboard the Japanese Nozumi space probe, and will ride the European rover Beagle II across the Martian plains. Canadian aerospace industry has become world-renowned, building instruments and satellite components for other countries around the world. Direct-to-home satellite television, geosynchronous communications satellites, and Earth observation from space have been pioneered by Canadian scientists. All of these programs can trace their roots back to John Chapman's dream: Allouette I, Canada's first satellite.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Scott Young, Planetarium Managing Producer, 988-0627.

Click on the following link for a complete listing of Canadian achievements in space

Images of Allouette I, John Chapman, and other Canadian space achievements are available through the Canadian Space Agency's web site.

1. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy, which means it is characterized by a central 'bulge' with spiral 'arms' extending from the centre. Viewed from above, it would look like a giant whirlpool rotating in space.

2. The Milky Way is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter and made up of nearly 100 billion stars. Our solar system is located roughly 28,000 light years from the centre of the galaxy. At the centre of the Milky Way is a super massive black hole, around which the rest of the galaxy rotates (our solar system completes one revolution every 250 million years).

3. The word 'galaxy' is a derivative of the Greek word 'galaktikos', which translates to mean 'milky white'.

4. The Milky Way is generally classified an Sbc-type spiral galaxy, meaning its classification falls between Sb and Sc-type. In this method of classification, Sa-type galaxies are at one end of the spectrum with large central bulges and tightly bound spiral arms. At the other end, Sc-type galaxies have small central bulges and loosely bound spiral arms. Sb-type galaxies fall between them, with moderate features.

5. The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxies are on a collision course, approaching one another at a rate of 482,820 kms. per hour. While scientists are not yet certain whether the two galaxies will collide or merely brush past one another, the Andromeda Galaxy is still 2.5 million light years away, and will not come into contact with the Milky Way for at least 5 billion years.