Canada Launches Maritime Monitoring Satellite

The Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite will improve ship detection and marine traffic management in Canadian waters.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Microsatellite (M3MSat) has been placed into orbit by an Indian Space Research Organization rocket, the Canadian Space Agency said in a press release on Wednesday.

"The M3MSat mission will improve ship detection and marine traffic management in Canadian waters by testing new technologies, including an innovative antenna designed by the University of Waterloo that promises improved identification of ships and better resolution between conflicting [identification] signals in regions with high maritime traffic," the release stated.

A second satellite placed in orbit by the same rocket was developed by the Montreal-based firm GHGSat to test a new way to measure greenhouse gas emissions by industrial facilities, the release noted.

The launch was originally scheduled in 2014 on a Russian rocket, however that launch was canceled by Canada amid tensions with Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.