A unique system of satellite-tracking cameras designed, built and operated by a Canadian team has produced the first full year of satellite tracking data over Canada. One station alone - located in Eureka, Nvt., in the Canadian High Arctic - has now provided a full winter season of data with more than tens of millions of individual satellite observations over the North Pole.
This initiative, a collaboration between Western and Defence Research and Development Canada, has adapted technology and tools originally developed at Western for detecting meteors to efficiently monitor satellites over Canada, and by extension North America, using very low-cost cameras.
The system, now operating and deployed at four sites across Canada, including Eureka, is producing the first continuous satellite monitoring by Canadians, for Canadians of all space objects flying over the country. The Nunavut location has demonstrated the unique capability to track sun-synchronous space objects within orbital "choke points" only visible from Canada's far north, or Antarctica.
The system is able to detect all Canadian and foreign objects passing over the country larger than 30 cm in size. To date, the system has made nearly half a billion individual observations of more than 17,000 unique satellites. More than 90 per cent of all active satellites crossing Canadian territory in low earth orbit (the region of space around Earth where satellites orbit at relatively low altitudes, typically less than 2,000 kilometers) are regularly registered by the system. These data points are used to update their orbits and provide information about individual satellite attitudes and characteristics.
Beyond the successful completion of sensor sites in Osoyoos, B.C., and Lucky Lake, Sask., further expansion of the network is planned for the High Arctic and other Canadian locations over the next two years.
By monitoring brightness, the cameras determine exactly where each satellite is located in the sky and assesses if each one is stable or tumbling out of control. This level of satellite monitoring is necessary for security and safety of space systems and the potential for unintended collisions in space.
Satellite tracking cameras deployed at Eureka, Nvt. (Michael Mazur)
"The rapid proliferation of mega constellations of satellites, like Starlink, make it an urgent priority for Canada to have its own capabilities to persistently monitor wide swaths of space above the country," said Peter Brown, Canada Research Chair in planetary science and member of Western's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (Western Space). "At a relatively low cost, this system provides sovereign coverage of Canada's north while greatly advancing the understanding of the state of the space environment."
The data and operational experience gathered by the Canadian team in the High Arctic during the 2024-25 winter season has provided Western researchers with a unique dataset to understand future requirements for polar optical observations of satellites.
"As satellite constellations begin to dominate the skies, our original meteor tracking algorithms are now fine-tuned based on our operational experience of data collection over the last year to track almost everything passing over Canada," said Denis Vida, a researcher at Western, who leads the Global Meteor Network, an initiative of Western Space.
Map showing the ground track of all satellite tracked by the cameras over Eureka on Feb 25, 2025. The cameras are pointed in fixed directions and capture only part of the total satellite track over the polar region. (Space Surveillance Group at Western)
The cameras are unique as they are very sensitive, monitor the entire sky and collect images tens of times per second, meaning they can track satellite constellations, rocket bodies and other debris in low earth orbit while continuing to monitor meteors.
"We also get a good feel for how bright the satellites are and how much they might impact everyone's view of the night sky over time," said Brown, a Western physics and astronomy professor. "Our current plan is to make the brightness of megaconstellations as seen from Canada publicly available in near real-time within the next year or so."
