The CASSIOPE Contribution Program was authorized for a five-year period on October 30, 2003. The project was extended due to the launch of the satellite being postponed several times. The launch took place in September 2013. The CASSIOPE mission combines three program elements: it provides for the integration of two payloads, the Cascade telecommunications demonstration payload and the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (ePOP) scientific payload, on a single generic Canadian small satellite (smallsat) bus.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) established two contribution agreements. One was with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) and its subsidiary, Cascade Data Services Inc., for the overall CASSIOPE mission technology demonstration phase, which included the Cascade payload, integration of the ePOP payload, and phases C and D (development and manufacturing) of the smallsat bus. The other was with the University of Calgary for the ePOP payload.
Total funding of the CASSIOPE project was $75 million (plus $6 million for internal CSA costs). In addition, Industry Canada's Technology Partnerships Program provided an additional $48.6 million in funding to MDA via a separate contribution agreement.
The evaluation of the CASSIOPE contribution program on behalf of the CSA Audit and Evaluation Directorate was undertaken by Kelly Sears Consulting Group in partnership with Beechwood Consulting and Research Inc., BBMD Consulting Inc., and Hickling Arthurs Low Corp.