The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded $14.6 million in contracts to three Canadian spacetech companies developing a new all-Canadian lunar rover.
The Canadian rover is meant to assist astronauts and support operations, such as transporting cargo, performing logistics, and construction duties, on the moon. Over the next 18 months, Canadarm manufacturer MDA Space will lead preparatory studies to assess different potential options for the rover, including various capacities depending on different sizes and scope, according to the CSA.
Ottawa-based software startup Mission Control and Toronto-based Canadensys Aerospace Corporation are also working on the project.
“We’re excited and honoured to be bringing [our] experience to bear on a fully Canadian mission.”
Ewan Reid
Mission Control CEO
The CSA said the investment “marks the beginning of a long-term project that will draw on the skills and determination of experts across the country” and brings the organization closer to having a CSA astronaut living and working on the moon.
The rover must be designed to perform tasks with minimal human intervention during its anticipated 10-year mission on the lunar surface, the CSA said. Mission Control, which received a $4.7-million contract, said that its on-board AI technology is key to overcoming the challenge.
Canadensys, which is already working on other lunar rovers for the CSA and other international projects, was awarded a $4.73-million contract as part of the project. Canadensys claims it already has more than 20 instruments on the lunar surface from several international missions over the past three years.
The one-tonne rover must also be designed to survive the roughly two-week-long lunar night, when temperatures can go as low as -200 C, and receive input from both a Canadian operations centre on Earth as well as astronauts on or orbiting the moon. The CSA said these advances in rover technology may be adapted for future missions to Mars and other deep space endeavours.
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“Having been a part of two international rover missions already sent [to the moon], and two more missions coming soon, we’re excited and honoured to be bringing this experience to bear on a fully Canadian mission,” Mission Control founder and CEO Ewan Reid said in a statement.
The CSA secured $1.43 billion in the 2023 budget earmarked for lunar exploration, including $1.2 billion over 13 years to design and build a lunar utility rover and $150 million over five years to enable the development of new technologies for the rover under the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP). Industry minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement that she anticipates the rover investments to “create and maintain 200 well-paying jobs” in the industrial sector over the next decade.
Canadian spacetech has benefitted from a renewed push to return to the moon, spurred partly by NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to ultimately create a permanent presence on the moon. The Canadian Space Mining Corporation (CSMC) is aiming to get a nuclear reactor on the moon to power lunar operations as part of the program, and Berg Chilling Systems delivered a key cooling system for the initiative. However, the United States government has cut NASA’s budget dramatically, creating a cloud of uncertainty around its lunar return.
Feature image courtesy Canadensys.