Canada will send two technologies on missions to the Moon in 2024 as part of a larger bid to commercialize space technologies from Canadian companies.
Peel, Ontario area Canadensys Aerospace Corp. plans to fly an energy-efficient 360-degree camera to the surface of the moon, to pick up panoramic images that could be used for navigation or geology. Sherbrooke, Quebec’s NGC Aerospace Ltd. plans to demonstrate planetary navigation on the Moon, which would operate similarly to GPS on Earth.
Late last week, the Canadian Space Agency announced that these two Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP) contribution agreements would be worth $3.3 million, with $2.49 million awarded to Canadensys and roughly $840,000 awarded to NGC. The announcement follows on from $4.36 million in contracts awarded to five companies and one university in February in the field of lunar autonomous science payloads.
In an email to SpaceQ, the CSA stated that while Canadensys and NGC have received contracts, other companies can still submit proposals for their technologies.
“Something important to note, as mentioned previously, is that the opportunities are still open for Technology development and Capability Demonstration. Small and medium-sized enterprises, and other illegible recipients (including universities and non-for-profit organization) are encouraged to apply.”
LEAP is set to award $150 million over five years to support commercialization of ideas in high-demand fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, science and health, particularly for small- and medium-sized businesses. Commercialization from space applications has already happened for robotics, for example with Canadarm and Canadarm2 technology being repurposed for medical surgeries and health care.
LEAP and Canadarm3, which MDA is constructing for NASA’s planned Gateway lunar station, represent Canada’s major contributions in association with the NASA-led Artemis Moon program that plans to put humans on the surface again in 2024. Several international agencies are now participating in moon exploration.
The 2024 deadline to land humans in the Moon is pending funding and the availability of the key program components such as rockets, spacecraft and spacesuits, which NASA continues to design and build. NASA is also engaging American commercial companies to provide payloads, robotics and landers under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
International government support has led to a boom in companies worldwide working for Moon missions, noted Canadensys in an e-mail to SpaceQ.
“The global space community is now focusing its attention on the moon. During the next three to four years, there will be many international robotic missions to the lunar surface, with the first human missions to follow shortly after,” said Canadensys CEO Christian Sallaberger in the e-mail.
He added that his company is humbled by the trust CSA is putting into their work.
“The provision of Canadian imaging solutions to these missions will provide Canadian economic export growth, as well as allowing a new generation of Canadians to participate in lunar exploration in a way that hasn’t been possible since the days of the Apollo program … The camera technologies we are launching to the moon build on Canadian innovation and know-how developed thanks to the past vision, commitment, and support of both the CSA’s space exploration program and Canadian Department of National Defence’s IDEaS innovation program.”
Of note, Canadensys has a payload scheduled to be sent to the Lactus Mortis plain in the northeastern area of Moon in 2021. That payload will be flown on the U.S. Astrobotic Peregrine commercial lander. The payload is “a lunar science and technology payload that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).”
In a separate e-mail to SpaceQ, NGC said the LEAP funding was crucial to funding a flight demonstration of their crater-based navigation system to automatically determine the position of a vehicle orbiting the moon, or landing on the moon.
“This GPS-like technology, which we have been developing for several years, uses moon craters as references to determine in real time the vehicle position in moon coordinates, [which] we have identified as critical for future moon missions requiring precision landing,” NGC president Jean de Lafontaine said in the e-mail.
“The funding will serve to increase the maturity of the technology by demonstrating it in its real environment, and by showcasing the technology to our current partners and future customers. We are confident that the flight heritage from this demonstration will dramatically increase the confidence of commercial moon landing service providers in integrating this component into their own orbiter or lander architecture, for their future missions.”
“This is the first time Canada will conduct a technology demonstration in lunar orbit and on the moon’s surface. It represents a significant step in Canada’s participation in the next chapter of moon exploration,” CSA said in a news release last week.
“These innovative technologies,” the agency added, “will enable new commercial opportunities and position the Canadian space industry for the future economy created by moon exploration. The CSA will continue to support Canadian organizations by providing a wide range of opportunities for Canadian science and technology activities in lunar orbit, on the moon’s surface, and beyond.”
The CSA also told SpaceQ that “the two winning Canadian companies (i.e. NGC and Canadensys) will manage the launch with a launch service provider.”