Ukraine Crisis Scuttles Canadian Satellite Launch on Soyuz
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.
“Both COM DEV and exactEarth made significant investments in the development of the satellite, and in upgrading its capabilities,” according to the Aprl 24 statement, which said the Canadian Space Agency has indicated it will support the company's efforts to secure a new launch.
In March, as Moscow consolidated its hold on Crimea, the U.S. State Department suspended approval of defense exports to Russia, a move that could prevent the launch of U.S. commercial communications satellites on Russian rockets.
“State will continue this practice until further notice,” the department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) said in a March 27 announcement on its website.
DDTC export licenses are required to launch U.S. satellites —or foreign-built satellites containing U.S. components controlled by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)—on Russian launch vehicles.
If the ban on issuing such licenses remains in effect, the impact would be felt most immediately by International Launch Services (ILS) of Reston, Va., and Sea Launch International of Nyon, Switzerland; ILS markets launches on Russian Proton vehicles, while Sea Launch manages flights on Russia’s Zenit launcher.
In addition, several upcoming launches on ILS Proton rockets could face delays as satellite manufacturers and fleet operators await U.S. export license approval before shipping spacecraft to the company's launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Both London-based Inmarsat and the government of Mexico are planning 2014 Proton launches of their Boeing-built Global Xpress and Mexsat satellites, respectively. Luxembourg fleet operator SES could also see delays as it prepares for the launch of its Astra 2G satellite, built by Airbus Defense and Space, in September.
Launch industry sources say the hold may also affect Soyuz launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Europe’s Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, where launch consortium Arianespace manages commercial missions of the four-stage, medium-lift Soyuz.