At this years annual CANSEC industry event which started today, the Department of National Defence, Royal Canadian Air Force, and commercial partners MDA Space and Telesat, announced the establishment of the Commercial Integration Cell (CIC).
The announcement was made by Colonel Catherine Marchetti, Commander of 7 Wing (Space) and Director of the Canadian Space Operations Centre. Attending and representing industry partners were Mike Greenley, Chief Executive Officer at MDA Space, and Michèle Beck, Senior Vice President, Canadian Sales at Telesat.
In a news release DND said the new “CIC is a new information-sharing structure focused on space operations established between the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and industry partners to enable discussions and data-sharing at the appropriate security level. This new structure will formalize the process of communicating timely and relevant information, leveraging the capability to protect Canada’s interests in space. The cell will focus on space systems currently supporting CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) operations and potential threats against those space systems.”
While MDA Space and Telesat are the initial commercial partners, 7 Wing (Space) will add other commercial partners going forward. Commercial partners are expected to provide “subject matter experts” who will “provide direct liaison between the Canadian Space Operations Centre at 7 Wing (Space) and their companies, enhancing real-time information sharing of indications and warnings of critical space incidents.” The CIC will initially be staffed with one operator from each MDA Space and Telesat.
DND said “there is no cost associated with the establishment of the CIC.” Industry partners subject matter experts will be given “appropriate security clearances required to facilitate appropriate information-sharing that will improve space domain awareness and increase the protection of Canadian assets in the space domain.”
Colonel Catherine Marchetti, 7 Wing (Space) Commander said, “We’ve witnessed over the years an increase in adversarial capability development and activity in the space domain, signaling the need for enhanced resiliency of the space-based assets upon which we rely. The establishment of the Canadian Commercial Integration Cell at 7 Wing (Space) is another step forward in operationalizing our relationship with commercial partners that provide critical data and services to our military operations and enhancing resiliency of Canadian space-based assets in the face of increased threat in the space domain.”
