INUVIK - This summer the Town of Inuvik will survey land near the airport surrounding the two satellite remote sensing stations in hopes of developing the area for research and economic benefits.

The Town of Inuvik will sign a memorandum of understanding with Natural Resources Canada to survey the land around the two current satellite remote sensing stations. Inuvik sits in a prime location to receive data from satellites polar orbiting the Earth. - Samantha Stokell/NNSL photo

At the council meeting on May 25, mayor Denny Rodgers announced the town and Natural Resources Canada will sign a memorandum of understanding stating that the federal department will pay for the survey. The town hopes to develop the area as a research area with up to 20 satellite remote-sensing stations, similar to Kiruna, Sweden which has 24 satellite dishes and a bustling economy built off it.

"The dishes have created a whole new industry there for tourism, conferences and research," Rodgers said. "If you build it, they will come. We could partner with Aurora Research Institute. Lots of researchers would

want to come here."

Inuvik sits in a perfect location, geographically speaking. The 75 satellites that polar orbit the earth – from north pole to south pole – stay over Inuvik longer than anywhere else in the world, except for Kiruna, Sweden. By setting up a series of satellite dishes here, proponents could download more information more readily. Only one of the two dishes currently set up are active, but the German Space Agency is using it to download information for a three-year project.

The hope is that installing 19 satellites on town land will create jobs and net the town revenue through taxes if they sell the land to companies or organizations. Right now the area is Commissioner's land.

When the land is surveyed, the title can change to the municipality, which will then decide with stakeholders what zoning to designate the area, somewhere along the lines of research and development.

Once the land is in the town's name, it can decide how to sell the land: to Natural Resources, keeping it within the town's ownership and selling directly to organizations, or some combination of the two. Companies could then install the satellite dishes for $4 million, or rent time from the satellite dishes to download data when a certain satellite passes overhead.

Jobs for locals could come from site preparation, construction, maintenance and training for data retrieval.

"This is one of the first moves into the information economy and not one based on oil, gas or mining," said Peter Clarkson, regional superintendent for the GNWT. "After the site is prepared there would be secondary jobs and people could get trained to do geomatic information surveying. There's already people with that training at Parks Canada and ENR, so, with training, additional people could be getting that work."

While the plan sounds beneficial – low-impact on the environment, talk of over 250 more satellites orbiting the earth in the future, and job creation – there is one hitch. To maximize the potential of the project, investors want to receive the satellite data in real time.

Right now Inuvik uses microwaves for sending information, which works well for emails, but not for the amount of data received by satellites. What would make this project successful is the completion of a fibre-optic link to the rest of Canada.

The GNWT has completed a feasibility study and is considering the two options for installing the link – either along the Dempster Highway or through the Mackenzie Valley. While the second option would allow for better internet connections for all the communities, the Dempster option is cheaper.

The cost of installing a fibre link along the highway is estimated at $30 per metre, while without road access, the cost climbs to $41.71. The closest road link is at Checkpoint Station, near Fort Simpson.

While the GNWT looks at its options, Inuvik will prepare for this venture into the information economy.

"We want to be proactive. We realize we are geographically gifted and we want to let the world know," Rodgers said. "By the end of the summer the land will be surveyed and we will look at zoning in the fall in partnership with NRCAN and proponents about what type of things they want there."

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