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OTTAWA: Canada signed an agreement with the United States to send a Canadian astronaut around the moon in 2023, the Xinhua news agency reported citing Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, Navdeep Bains, on Wednesday.
In a video press conference, Bains unveiled the Gateway Treaty, which formalizes Canada’s participation in the US-led effort to build a new international space station on the surface of the moon to enable exploration and future missions to Mars.
The treaty includes a commitment to have a Canadian on board when the US flies over the moon in 2023, as well as a second flight to the future station. It will not include a moon landing.
With launch in 2023, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency will be part of Artemis 2, the first mission to take humans to lunar orbit in more than 50 years. This will make Canada the second country after the United States to have an astronaut in deep space, ”Bains said at the press conference with some Canadian Space Agency astronauts.
Under the treaty, Canada will contribute a new robotic arm to assist with the construction of the Lunar Gateway, which will orbit the moon and allow exploration of the lunar surface and aid future missions to Mars.
Bains did not say how much it will cost Canada to participate in the Artemis 2 flight, which will follow an unmanned flyby of the moon that the United States has scheduled for next year.
Earlier this month, Canada committed Cdn $ 22.8 million (RM72.26 million) to the first phase of development of Canadarm 3, a new robotic arm to be used at the lunar station.
“It is important to note that we are a space nation and we are very proud of our space history,” said the Canadian minister. “And this investment with respect to the Artemis 2 program, as well as the overall space strategies, far exceeds C $ 2 billion ($ 6.35 billion) over the next 24 years.”
The Canadian Space Agency is one of several partners in the US-led effort alongside the European Space Agency and its Japanese counterpart. – Called
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