OTTAWA: Canada is collaborating with its to establish a permanent research installation near the Moon – called the Lunar Gateway, an orbiting international space station.
Canada is heading to the moon. Along with NASA and in collaboration with its partners, the Canadian Space Agency on Thursday will be building robotics for the Lunar Gateway, as well as developing artificial intelligence for the station.
CSA, in a partnership with MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates, Inc., will build the next-generation robotic system: the globally-acclaimed Canadarm3, as it did for the Shuttle and Station programs.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced: “We’re stepping up. … Canada is going to the Moon.”
This robotic system will be Canada’s contribution to the US-led Lunar Gateway station for the Artemis Program, the next major international collaboration in human space exploration — which forms the cornerstone of Canadian space strategy.
“Our commitment to contribute Canadarm3 to the Lunar Gateway will generate high-quality jobs and economic benefits for Canadians,” said Navdeep Bains, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. “Canada will continue to push the boundaries of human ambition in space exploration, and inspire generations of kids.”
MDA announced this week that it has been awarded a contract from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to develop Canadarm3, the third generation Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based robotic system destined for the “Lunar Gateway”.
The contract involves the award of Phase A of the Canadarm3 program, with options for the follow-on phases.
As MDA’s most ambitious space exploration project yet, Canadarm3 will operate aboard Gateway, a NASA-led deep space outpost that will orbit the Moon beginning in the mid-2020s, supporting both human and robotic missions to the lunar surface, serving as a science laboratory, and acting as a proving ground for exploration missions into deeper space.
Canadarm3 will include the full robotics system, comprised of an eXploration Large Arm (XLA), an eXploration Dexterous Arm (XDA), specialized tools for performing maintenance and science tasks, as well as the ground control systems and AIbased control and mission software.
Because of limited and delayed communication with the ground due to the Gateway’s location some 400,000 kilometers from Earth, Canadarm3 will be highly autonomous and will use its advanced AI-enabled sensors and systems to safely conduct operations without requiring oversight and monitoring by the ground or onboard astronauts.
The ground planning and control operations for the system will take place exclusively in Canada, in contrast to the previous generation Canadarm and Canadarm2, also built by MDA.
This initial Phase A of the Canadarm3 program will establish the technical requirements needed for the future design and manufacturing of the robotic system.
This phase will further evolve the concepts developed by MDA in Phase 0 and advance the readiness level of critical technologies. Follow-on phases include Phase B (preliminary design), Phase C (final design) and Phase D (manufacturing, integration and test).
MDA has also committed to produce a ‘’Value Proposition’’ through the Government of Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits policy that will optimize economic benefits to Canada from the Canadarm3 investment.
With unmatched space operations capabilities developed through various government programs for almost 40 years, the Canadarm3 program will further strengthen Canada’s global leadership in operational mission-critical space robotics and will position MDA for continued success in the commercial space robotics market, an emerging business area forecast to generate global revenues reaching upwards of CAD $7 billion in the next 10 years.
Canadarm first debuted in 1981, and flew on 90 space shuttle missions.
• Canadarm2 has been operating on the International Space Station for close to 20 years.
• The first elements of Gateway will launch in 2023, with Canadarm3 scheduled to launch in 2026.
• More than 500 Canadian companies contributed to the Canadarm2 program.
• MDA boasts 24,000 hours of direct robotic operations experience and over three million hours of engineering support to on-orbit robotic operations – including 100+ free flyer vehicle and satellite captures and 1000+ grasping operations – all with a 100% mission success rate.