In a community that is currently experiencing an economic downturn, four gigantic antennae at the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility stand as something of a monument to hope.
Canadian, German, French and Swedish governments are all invested in the federal ground station between Inuvik and the airport.
The antennae wait for passing satellites. A loud buzzer sounds, and within a minute the huge machines quickly contort and twist themselves to follow the speeding space objects, downloading data and sending it south on the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link.
Those four are only the beginning. Seen from the hill they sit on is a road that forks into three, preparing an area for up to 17 more.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the future,鈥� says Jiri Raska, station manager of the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility, whose giddy excitement about the industry is readily apparent in his smile and enthusiasm for what鈥檚 happening up on that one hill in town.
The antennae mostly track polar-orbiting satellites. Satellites make several passes over the poles in a day, some circling the Earth up to a dozen times.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unreal how they don鈥檛 knock into each other,鈥� remarks Raska. 鈥淭here are over 1,200 of them up there and active.鈥�
He鈥檚 the first manager at the facility and has been on the job for just a few weeks. His role is largely to educate and involve the community in the industry.
That will include school trips to the station, tours, artwork painted on the dishes themselves and anything else that helps the community take ownership of the station.
鈥淔rom a standpoint of someone who lives here, there aren鈥檛 a lot of opportunities that do come up here and stay,鈥� said Raska. 鈥淭his is one that will stay.鈥�
Construction might ebb and flow, but the facility will always be of use to the community, whether it鈥檚 in inspiring students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math careers or other opportunities.
鈥淪ky鈥檚 the limit when you have high tech in your backyard,鈥� said Raska. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we鈥檙e only starting to open our eyes up to.鈥�
Natural Resources Canada invested $16 million to install the antennae and operations building and another $4 million into the roads. The French, German and Swedish space agencies spent approximately $22 million on their equipment at the site.
One of the first community outreach projects will be an event for Geographic Information Systems Day Nov. 15. Raska hopes to involve students at the facility for that celebration. Look for more information closer to the date.
