Grants and Contributions:

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Title:

IceCube: Making Space Accessible for Arctic Climate Change Research (3U)

Agreement Number:

22CUBMAN15

Agreement Value:

$349,992.00

Agreement Date:

Mar 17, 2023 - Dec 31, 2025

Description:

With Canada's Arctic regions experiencing the effects of climate change faster than the rest of the country, northern Inuit and Indigenous communities require assistance. Traditional travel and hunting routes are being disrupted by unsafe ice conditions as multi-year ice melts, creating a need for community-driven remote sensing. To help address this need, an interdisciplinary team of Arctic climate change scientists, remote sensing specialists, and space systems engineers are proposing the ArcticSat Mission: A community co-developed 3U CubeSat equipped with a high-frequency microwave radiometer capable of detecting ice/water interfaces from a polar orbit and operated by community members from Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut and Churchill, Manitoba. Equipped with timely data on ice and snow conditions (including ponds of fresh water during the melt season), communities will be able to assess safe travel corridors and monitor how the surrounding environment is changing on a weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual basis -- and how it may change in the future. Most importantly, ArcticSat will be designed, built, and operated in cooperation with northern community members, sharing the data freely over the SIKU Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, making it one of the most accessible sources of space data for northern Canadian communities.

Organization:

Canadian Space Agency

Expected Results:

The Research component of the program provides financial support to organizations to conduct space related research
and development in priority areas. It will support targeted knowledge development and innovation to sustain and enhance the Canadian capacity to use space to address national needs and priorities in the future.

Location:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA R3T 5V6

Reference Number:

003-2022-2023-Q4-00073

Agreement Type:

Grant

Report Type:

Grants and Contributions

Recipient Type:

Academia

Additional Information:

The amount allocated covers more than one fiscal year.

Recipient's Legal Name:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Class Grant and Contribution Program to Support Research, Awareness and Learning in Space Science and Technology

Program Purpose:

This program supports knowledge development and innovation in the CSA's priority areas while increasing the awareness and participation of Canadians in space-related disciplines and activities.

The Research Component aims to support the development of science and technology; foster the continual development of a critical mass of researchers and highly qualified people in Canada; and support information gathering and space-related studies and research pertaining to Canadian Space Agency priorities.