William LiuCanadian Space Agency

June 12, 2007, Uppsala, Sweden

CSA Report to the 5th ILWS Working Group Meeting

2

Agency Update

• New President appointed in April, after 17 months of vacancy

• Former CEO of Telesat Canada– A corporate approach to CSA– Look to change the CSA from a government

department to a Crown corporation

• Major reorganization took place• Program review under way• Impact on space science unknown

3

Program Update

• THEMIS– Five THEMIS satellites

successfully launched in February 2007

– 15 of the 16 GBO in Canada operational

– Tantalizing new results from 3-s auroral images

– Look forward to the first winter conjunction starting in September

4

Program Update

• Canadian Geospace Monitoring– CSA remains committed

to supporting ground-based observations

– Renewal of the program through an AO this summer (for the next 5 years)

– Closer links to space missions a key factor.

5

Program Update

• Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe– To be launched in the second half of

2008– Up to 2-year mission in an elliptical 300

1500 km, 70º orbit to study• Acceleration of ion outflow

– O+ ions are a major factor in storms

• Thermal and secondary auroral electrons (up to 100 eV)

• Fast, DMSP-type, auroral imaging in IR/VIS

• Radio tomagraphy of the ionosphere with radio receiver, SuperDARN, beacon, and GPS occulation

– One of the very few dedicated IT missions in the foreseeable future

• C/NOFS's low-latitude coverage complementary

6

Program Update

• Canadian EFI on SWARM– Three-satellite ESA mission to study

geomagnetic field, 2010-2014– E-field measurement to remove

geospace "noise"– Combined E and B instruments can

measure the Poynting flux to W/m2 accuracy

– Constellation plus precision will Field-Aligned Current dynamics to be probed in greater detail

– In conjunction with contempraneous magnetospheric missions, will open new doors on the MI coupling problem

7

Future Missions

• ORBITALS– A mission envisaged to

complement RBSP

– US instrument payload supported under NASA MOO

– GTO orbit locked with CGSM array

– Higher apogee (6 RE) allows a mini-constellation with GOES E & W

– Also conjunction with the inner 3 of THEMIS

– If later-than-expected flight, conjunction with ERG possible

8

Future Missions• Ravens/Kuafu

– Canadian Ravens concept merged into Kuafu B under consideration by CNSA

– A coordinated Sun-geospace imaging mission

– More powerful imaging suite than IMAGE

• Higher time resolution (30s)

• Better spatial resolution (30 km)

• Spectral separation of LBHL and LBHH

• 24/7!

– Powerful complement to contemporaneous missions (THEMIS, MMS, SWARM, RBSP, ORBITALS, as well as much enhanced GB arrays)

9

A Focus on Data

• Data – CSA data policy and

strategy under development

– Canadian-led virtual observatory GAIA is setting an example on how a ground-based VO can function and add value to research

– Next phase of CGSM will chart the course on how a multi-instrument VO can be built

– Data volume from GB instruments a challenge

10

ILWS

• The Canadian community has benefited greatly from ILWS• Future emphasis will be on maximizing scientific return• Importance of GB observation long recognized but value far from

being exhausted• ePOP and CEFI on SWARM also position the Canadian community at

the forefront of IT science• CSA is supporting Canadian participation in successful proposals to

ESA Cosmic Vision • CSA-NASA bilateral opened the door for further collaborations, with

data as a key area of focus• CSA interests in Kuafu and other research opportunities in China