Canada’s First Moon Mission to Fly Aboard Firefly Spacecraft

Canada’s first-ever Moon rover is going to hitch a ride aboard private space company’s Firefly Aerospace’s fourth Blue Ghost mission to our celestial satellite. The news comes after NASA awarded Firefly $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface.

The Texas-based company pulled-off its first Moon landing on March 2, delivering payloads for NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative (CLPS). Firefly is set to launch its second and third mission in 2026 and 2028, with the fourth one currently scheduled for 2029.

Canada’s four-wheeled rover is set to explore a region of the lunar south pole in search for water hidden in permanently shadowed regions. It will also gather insights into the Moon’s geological makeup. That information is crucial to the global effort to establish a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface, which will need in-situ resources to help maintain future habitats on the Moon.

Launching as part of the fourth Blue Ghost mission, the lunar rover was designed by Toronto-based Canadensys Aerospace.

“Through CLPS, NASA is embracing a new era of lunar exploration, with commercial companies leading the way,” Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a recent statement. “These investigations will produce critical knowledge required for long-term sustainability and contribute to a deeper understanding of the lunar surface, allowing us to meet our scientific and exploration goals for the South Pole region of the Moon for the benefit of all.”

Made in Canada

Canada’s rover has been years in the making. Canadensys began developing prototypes over a decade ago, and the company was selected by the Canadian Space Agency in November 2022 to put its plans to the test with a $1.2 billion contract.

The rover was built to withstand the harsh lunar nights, when temperatures plummet to around -208 degrees Fahrenheit (-133 Celsius). Once on the Moon’s surface, the rover will drive toward permanently shadowed regions, where it is set to operate for an hour and gather data about lunar resources that could support future human missions. Canadensys will also use its robot to test key technologies, like surface mobility, telecommunications, dust mitigation, navigation, and remote semi-autonomous control.

Although the rover was originally meant to launch in 2026, it has suffered some delays. Landing on the Moon is no easy feat, and the dusty lunar surface has claimed the lives of several commercial landers attempting to touchdown on Earth’s natural satellite.

With its first mission earlier this year, Firefly became the second company to land on the Moon and the first one to carry out a fully successful touchdown. after Intuitive Machines’ lander tipped over on its side during their world-first lunar landing in February 2024. The company’s follow-up mission also ended up on its side and was declared dead shortly after arriving on the Moon on March 6. Japan’s ispace, meanwhile, has failed to land on the Moon twice. The company’s first attempt in April 2023 ended in a crash landing after the lander ran out of propellant while approaching the surface, while its second lander lost contact with mission control before meeting the same fate.

Now Firefly is hoping to repeat its success. And with each private mission headed toward the Moon’s surface, the lunar economy inches closer to becoming a reality.