Defence and Discovery: Canada’s Military Space Program, 1945-74

Studies in Canadian Military History

by Andrew B. Godefroy

The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War is arguably the most famous international rivalry in modern history. Few, however, are aware that Canada was also an early contender in space exploration. Indeed, in 1962, Canada bested the more powerful United Kingdom to become the third nation to reach outer space.

In Defence and Discovery, Andrew Godefroy presents the first comprehensive examination of the origins, development, and impact of Canada's space program. Drawing on newly declassified archival sources and a wealth of secondary material, Godefroy puts Canada's early space research into context and demonstrates the central role of military enterprise in these endeavours. He also reveals the technological, political, and strategic implications of the country's early innovation in space-research technology, and its subsequent turn from this arena.

Most nations have proudly documented their efforts in space exploration, but historians of Canada have been slow to delve into this important era. Defence and Discovery opens the records, illuminating a highly secretive and significant period in the country’s military and strategic history.

Genres: Space, Canada

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Pascal Scallon-Chouinard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting contribution to the history of Canadian military and space engineering, as well as to the history of Canada-USA relations during the Cold War era. The author wrote about a less known subject in the country’s history, looking at various space and military programmes from the 1940s to the 1970s.

The analysis suggests a certain golden age of military technological development in Canada in the aftermath of the Second World War, while the country was able to capitalize on its geostrategic position, in the context of the emerging Cold War, and on its relationship with the USA. We learn that Canadian research and innovations in the field of rocketry and telecommunications placed the country as a leader in the space race, just behind the United States and the Soviet Union, with programmes marked by the success of the Black Brant rockets and the Alouette satellites. This position enabled Canada to strengthen its alliances with the United States, but also to develop internal infrastructure and organizations to oversee space innovation.

A golden age, but one that unfortunately seems to have turned into a missed opportunity. Lacking the human and financial resources to sustain and develop its programmes, unable to keep up with the accelerating changes in space technologies, plagued by internal power struggles between the civilian and military spheres both wanting to control the same portfolio, and a victim of government changing priorities, we understand that Canada may not have had the means to fulfil its ambitions, despite the successes and the role it will play in the following decades.

This is a very well-constructed study, which explores unpublished sources and lifts the veil on an important part of our national history. However, the tone remains very technical, to the point where we end up getting a little lost through the multitude of small details brought in, despite their interest. The study would also have benefited if it has included a more social-historical component: what did these investments, advances and successes inspire in the Canadian population? What was the impact on society in the short, medium and long term? The study doesn’t go that way and remain anchored in a technical and military approach (which does not diminish the work that has been done).

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the daunting research task and fine execution. The book is thin not because Canada's activities in space were limited but because so many records if the period are either lost it remain classified. Marvelous first steps in an important historical investigation.