Initial steps towards a first Canadian lunar CubeSat
Establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon requires international collaboration and the development of complementary expertise and technologies. Since , through its Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has been supporting Canada's space sector for potential opportunities in the global commercial space market and long-term lunar exploration.
The CSA recently awarded a contract for a total value of up to $6.9M to Magellan Aerospace for an ambitious technology demonstration project that includes what would become Canada's first CubeSat to the Moon. As part of this contract, Magellan Aerospace's project aims to develop:
- a CubeSat equipped with a multispectral imager to create a detailed resource map of the lunar surface
- a software package that will use data from the imager to test a novel lunar positioning algorithm
- a technology designed to impact the lunar surface at high velocity to provide insight into the physical and mechanical properties of the regolith (Moon soil)
This initiative will help us better understand the lunar environment and support future Moon exploration efforts.