Yellowknife (May 21/04) - A new satellite will help the Canadian military monitor Arctic waters and will make images of the North available to anyone interested.

Colleen D'Iorio, of the Canadian Space Agency, spoke at a meeting of the Arctic Security Interdepartmental Working Group on the new satellite RADARSAT-2.

The surveillance satellite will complement RADARSAT-1, which is already in orbit. RADARSAT-2 will be a more advanced, higher resolution satellite.

The main use of the satellite will be to monitor ice in Northern waters for the purposes of maritime navigation, says D'Iorio.

The military will use satellite images to monitor Canadian territory, but D'Iorio says the agency's mandate is the peaceful use of space.

"We are profoundly opposed to the weaponization of space," D'Iorio said.

The $450 million satellite will be launched next year and will be fully operational in 2008.