MDA Corporation of Richmond, B.C. developed CASSIOPE’s commercial payload, Cascade, that demonstrated a novel communications service for transferring large amounts of data from one location to another via space.
Cascade was a pioneer in developing the capability to send and receive large amounts of data from anywhere on Earth. The Cascade service was similar to the operations of a typical courier company – pick up a parcel at close of business, carry it via truck, plane or other means, and deliver it before work starts the next day. Cascade, however, used a small satellite and the packages were digital data files. Cascade addressed a niche for a particular type of communication service that at the time of its design was not available from any other service provider. The system was designed to meet the needs of remote commercial, civil and military clients with large-scale data transfer requirements. Today we see the evolution of this concept in the mega-constellations of satellite internet providers that give fast, reliable internet service to any location on earth.