Communications Research Centre Canada

The Communications Research Centre Canada, known as CRC, is a Canadian government scientific laboratory for research and development in wireless technologies, with a particular focus on the efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum, based in Ottawa, Ontario. It was officially established in 1969 as the research branch of the new Department of Communications and descends from the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment, which existed within the Defence Research Board from 1951 to 1969. Its space heritage is substantial: in 1962 its predecessor launched Alouette 1, Canada's first satellite, and in 1976 the Hermes satellite became the first high-powered satellite and the first to operate in the Ku-band, enabling the first direct-to-home satellite television broadcast in 1978. Its SARSAT team received the first Alouette Award in 1995 for search and rescue technology.