Stephen Harper Steps in To Save Radarsat Upgrade after Budget Cutbacks Threatened Satellite Program’s Future

OTTAWA – The Harper government has approved funding for Canada’s world-beating surveillance satellite program, just as it seemed that it may become the victim of spending cutbacks.

Sources say the Prime Minister intervened personally to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding to move the next generation of Radarsat satellites off the drawing board and into production. A public announcement of the funding deal is expected soon.

Stephen Harper has lauded Radarsat — a series of satellites monitoring Canadian territory from space — in his annual visits to the Arctic, saying they can “pick up a breaching whale through the fog … so we will be able to see what the bad guys are up to.”