Photo: The Canadian Press
Technicians put the final touches on two of three RADARSAT Constellation Mission satellites at the MDA facility in Montreal in 2018.

The federal government says it’s granting $8 million to companies to help them take advantage of satellite data.

The 21 grants are to support projects from crop surveillance on the Prairies to sea ice safety in Nunavut.

The data is being made publicly available from a series of Canadian satellites, including RADARSAT.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne says the move will help Canadian businesses compete in a rapidly growing industry.

Ottawa says the global market using Earth observation satellite data is expected to more than double to nearly $9 billion over the next decade.