Better Arctic situational awareness
Support search and rescue, maritime safety, ice management, wildfire response, flood monitoring, and emergency operations with faster, more persistent northern data.
Persistent Arctic Earth Observation
The Arctic is opening. Canada needs to see it clearly.
Northwatch is an Indigenous Canadian space mission designed to deliver persistent observation, maritime tracking, aviation awareness, and climate intelligence across the Arctic.
A mission for safety, sovereignty, science, and northern communities.
Geostationary satellites sit too far south to properly observe the High Arctic. Low Earth orbit satellites pass quickly and provide snapshots. Northwatch is designed for dwell: long-duration observation from a northern-focused highly elliptical orbit.
Canadian-controlled infrastructure
Build an Indigenous-owned Canadian observation layer that reduces dependence on foreign systems for critical Arctic monitoring and domain awareness.
Data where change is fastest
Observe weather, sea ice, boreal wildfire, permafrost-region greenhouse gases, and northern transportation corridors as the Arctic changes rapidly.
Why existing systems are not enough.
The Arctic is difficult to observe from space. The challenge is not simply resolution; it is persistence, geometry, latency, and sovereign access.
The geometry problem
Geostationary satellites are excellent for mid-latitude weather monitoring, but above roughly 70° North they view the surface at a shallow angle through a longer atmospheric path. That limits operational value in the High Arctic.
The revisit problem
Low Earth orbit satellites can provide high-resolution imagery, AIS, ADS-B, and climate data, but each satellite moves quickly. For operations, a perfect image hours late is often less useful than a lower-resolution view updated every few minutes.
Technical concept
Northwatch is structured around a small-satellite platform in highly elliptical orbit, Canadian ground infrastructure, and data products delivered through secure customer interfaces.
- Orbit: Molniya and Tundra regimes are both candidates, with final selection driven by Phase 1 trade studies.
- Platform: preliminary 200–400 kg wet-mass smallsat class bus.
- Mission class: medium-criticality Class C style mission with redundancy on critical functions.
- Design life: seven years on orbit, with disposal margin and propellant reserves sized for responsible end-of-life operations.
| Subsystem | Preliminary approach |
|---|---|
| Attitude control | Three-axis stabilized spacecraft, target pointing accuracy ≤0.05° and pointing knowledge ≤0.01°. |
| Power | Two-axis articulated solar arrays, lithium-ion batteries sized for regime-specific eclipse duration. |
| Communications | S-band TT&C plus X-band payload downlink at ≥500 Mbps; optional future Ka-band high-rate downlink. |
| Ground segment | Mission Operations Centre, Payload Data Processing Centre, and Canadian ground stations such as Inuvik, Yellowknife, and Prince Albert. |
| Data products | Level 1 calibrated data, Level 2 geophysical retrievals, and Level 3 gridded products exposed through portal and API access. |
Candidate payload stack
The initial payload complement is intentionally multi-use: weather, maritime, aviation, and climate products share a common northern platform and ground system.
Multispectral imager
Visible, near-infrared, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and thermal infrared imagery. Target: Arctic coverage during apogee dwell with ≤15 minute refresh and ≤5 minute rapid scan for priority sub-areas.
Maritime AIS receiver
Continuous reception of VHF AIS messages on channels 87B and 88B for vessels operating above 60° North. Target latency: ≤30 minutes routine, ≤5 minutes for safety or SAR-related events where supported.
Aviation ADS-B receiver
1090 MHz Mode S Extended Squitter reception for transponder-equipped aircraft across Arctic airspace, North Atlantic tracks, and trans-polar routes. Target latency: ≤60 seconds where ANSP integration permits.
Greenhouse gas sounder
Hyperspectral or Fabry-Perot column measurements of methane and carbon dioxide, with secondary support for nitrogen dioxide and water vapour. Target: weekly Arctic-wide coverage plus event-based observations.
Phased path to operational service
Northwatch is designed to avoid a giant leap. The program starts with a Pathfinder payload and customer validation before committing to a dedicated HEO satellite and, later, a continuous-coverage constellation.
Phase 1
0–18 months
0–18 months
Pathfinder: hosted AIS / ADS-B demonstration, ground pipeline, customer portal, formal Molniya vs Tundra trade study, early ITU coordination, and anchor customer commitments.
Phase 2
12–48 months
12–48 months
First satellite: system definition, prime contractor procurement, design reviews, manufacture, assembly, integration, launch, commissioning, and operational service for anchor customers.
Phase 3
Year 5 onward
Year 5 onward
Constellation: second and third satellites pursued only after operational proof, binding multi-year customer contracts, and infrastructure-style financing.
Built as the observation layer of sovereign Arctic infrastructure.
Northwatch is complementary to polar communications programs. Communications connect the Arctic; observation tells Canada and its partners what is happening there.
Government operations
Weather agencies, coast guards, search and rescue, air navigation providers, defence, and public safety organizations.
Commercial users
Maritime operators, Arctic insurers, aviation stakeholders, resource developers, and northern logistics organizations.
Research access
Climate scientists, polar institutes, universities, and northern knowledge partners requiring consistent Arctic data access.
Interested in Northwatch?
For partnerships, customer discussions, technical review, or investment conversations, contact the Northwatch team directly.