Vanguard Magazine

and internet connections would instantly drop. Bank cards would no longer func- tion, while debit payments and access to cash would be impacted as ATMs went of- fline. Stores could no longer conduct finan- cial transactions. Businesses would close. Traffic lights, reliant on GPS timing signal synchronization for proper functioning, would falter, causing chaos on the roads. Similarly, electrical grids would lose timing synchronization, resulting in widespread rolling blackouts. Security systems would fail as a result of power loss and many criti- cal national defence communications and operational systems would cease to func- tion. Imagine if this were to happen just for one day? Imagine a week? Imagine the cost and resulting chaos and panic. 1 Canadians need to be better informed about the prominence of space-based technologies in their lives, the importance of accessible space infrastructure and the benefits of a viable and robust Canadian space industry. Typically, when something is out of sight, it is also out of mind, and there is no more striking example than satellites in space. An absence of space- mindedness by the general public results in a significant lack of awareness about the critical importance of space-based systems to modern life. Such lack of understanding is dangerous as we continue to increase our space dependencies without consid- eration of the vulnerabilities surrounding these systems, and the various actors that have capabilities to disrupt them. A well- SPACE www.vanguardcanada.com DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 21 informed public often leads to better un- derstanding, increased support and greater acceptance for government spending on expensive investments. Current Assessment – Risks, Threats, Seams and Gaps Canada is a proponent of the use of space as one of five internationally agreed-upon global commons (high seas, deep seabed, atmosphere, Antarctica and space), treat- ing it as a shared environment with free- dom of access for all. Yet access to and freedom to operate in space has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Our ad- versaries, and many of our allies, have ac- cepted that space is no longer a sanctuary. India, China, Russia and the United States The three RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites are being prepared for their launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at the SpaceX facilities at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, MDA, a Maxar company)

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