Ukraine Crisis Scuttles Canadian Satellite Launch on Soyuz

Russia's actions in Ukraine have prompted the Canadian government to forego a planned launch of its M3M satellite atop a Soyuz rocket this summer, Canadian satellite manufacturer COM DEV International announced April 24.The satellite, a small maritime ship-tracking spacecraft, was previously scheduled to launch as a secondary payload on Soyuz from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in June.

"Recognizing the current events in the Ukraine, we had been engaged in discussions with the Government of Canada with respect to a potential delay of the launch of M3M, and plans to mitigate the impact of any delay," said COM DEV CEO Mike Pley. "We are confident that the mitigations will be in place prior to the originally planned M3M in-service date of September 2014."

Built by COM DEV under contract to the Canadian Space Agency/Public Works Government Services Canada and the Department of National Defense, M3M is also subject to a commercial data sharing license with exactEarth, in which COM DEV is majority owner.


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