Astrobotic proudly announces today that it has been selected by Toronto-based Canadensys Aerospace to fly a lunar science and technology payload that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) on Astrobotic’s first mission to the Moon in 2021. The payload will be the first in a series of payloads, which Canadensys intends to fly on multiple Peregrine lunar lander missions in the future. Details on the payload will be announced later this year.
The payload will be flown aboard Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander where it will be delivered to and operated on the lunar surface. Canadensys’ selection of Astrobotic follows a review of commercial lunar delivery providers, as the company decided which provider offered the most reliable and mature commercial lunar lander services for their payload.
“We’re thrilled to be helping Canadensys deliver their vision to the Moon,” said John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic. “Canadensys is a distinguished player in the global space landscape and we think they are doing some really exciting things in space exploration. They are a well-proven space systems provider across Canadian and European space programs and it means a lot to us for Canadensys to have chosen to fly on our lander.”
Dr. Christian Sallaberger, President and CEO of Canadensys stated “We’re delighted to be flying with Astrobotic on their first mission. We have long appreciated their lunar lander development approach, balancing pace, ambition, sound engineering and strong partnerships. They were a natural choice for this particular payload. The real adventure, of course, still lies ahead. The next couple of years promise to be very exciting for lunar exploration in the US, Canada and other space nations, and we’re thrilled to be supporting several domestic, international and commercial interests with this latest collaboration.”
“We’ve spent a long time preparing for this next wave of commercial lunar missions,” added Dr. Nadeem Ghafoor, Canadensys Vice President of Space Exploration. “From the technologies needed to help modern small, affordable spacecraft do more and last longer in the lunar environment, to the partnerships that will help them expand their socioeconomic footprint. It’s extremely exciting to be finally approaching game time on all of this, and we’re very much looking forward to talking more about our lunar collaborations over the coming months.”
This payload marks the 13th lunar payload sale for Astrobotic, which continues to lead the world in lunar sales. This payload sale from Canada also increases the total number of countries represented on Astrobotic’s first mission to eight.
About Astrobotic Inc.
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is a space robotics company that seeks to make space accessible to the world. The company’s lunar lander, Peregrine, delivers payloads to the Moon for companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals at an industry-defining price. The company is also developing advanced space robotics capabilities such as terrain relative navigation, mobile robotics for lunar surface operations, and reliable computing systems for mission-critical applications. Astrobotic has more than 30 prior and ongoing NASA and commercial technology contracts, a commercial partnership with Airbus DS, a corporate sponsorship with DHL, and 13 signed deals for Peregrine’s first mission to the Moon. The company is also an official partner with NASA through the Lunar CATALYST Program, and a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services provider. Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
For more information about Astrobotic at www.astrobotic.com
About Canadensys
Canadensys Aerospace Corporation is a space systems and services company with a focus on accessible space, making robust, affordable space solutions available to more people, worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, Canadensys draws on Canada’s half-century history in lunar exploration from participation in the early Apollo missions through to the latest high-performance nano and micro-class missions. A key emphasis has been on improving the robustness of small, low-cost systems in cislunar space ahead of the next phase of international and commercial exploration. Lunar night survival for operational longevity, low temperature electronics, sensor systems, thermal control and long-range lunar mechanisms have all been developed for near term flight applications, while the technologies also serve low-cost, high-reliability applications in LEO/MEO/GEO across civil and defence.
