Recent Cdn Gov announcement means orgs can move forward on various Lunar objectives

(AppSpace, Moonbase Alpha) The announcement on 28 February of Canada’s intention to support the Lunar Gateway was a welcome reprieve for many Canadian space companies looking for some indication that the Canadian Government is willing and able to set some policy and program objectives for the space sector. The involvement will see approximately $2BN Cdn spent over 24 years (so, about $100M Cdn per year) spent on researching and developing new robotic and artificial intelligence technologies to support the effort.

The Lunar Gateway will spark a number of new technologies and capabilities

Although the planned Gateway will be smaller than the current International Space Station (ISS), it will in no way be less complex nor operating in a less dynamic environment. Envisioned to be perched in a lunar polar orbit (for ensuring communications with the Earth), the station will see arrivals/departures to the Earth, as well as to the Moon’s surface. And, it is envisioned to be a ‘gateway’ to perhaps Mars and other celestial objects. This means that organizations eager to participate and partner had better start doing their ‘astronautical homework’ for the Cis-Lunar region.

Resources For Moon Mission Modelers

To help the various stakeholders, partners and entrepreneurs build their engineering and market cases, below are some links to a plethora of lunar mission information:

Portal for Lunar-related case studies, images, video, whitepapers

Recent AGI blog on quickly modeling a Lunar mission

Astrogator Guild – an online resource for Earth orbit, cis-lunar and interplanetary trajectory modeling.

To the Moon and Beyond!