Three Canadian companies are racing Moon-cart concepts.
Canadensys, MDA Space, and Mission Control collectively received C$14.6M ($10.3M) in July 2025 for a Phase 0 lunar-utility-rover study supporting Artemis. And now, work is almost done.
Phase shift: This year, NASA unveiled its plan to build a Moon Base—an undertaking that will require a transportation network that includes big rovers. As a result, CSA is expected to boost funding for its rover projects, and a new RFP should drop within days that will downselect to two companies to keep building in 2027 alongside science-instrument procurements.
MDA Space is a competitor in the rover procurement, as well as the maker of Canadarm3—originally intended to be used for Gateway. A company official told Payload that lunar mobility will enhance Moon Base support alongside possibly repurposed robotics, under examination through a funded task authorization with CSA.
Moon Meccano: CSA is asking industry to design a fully robotic rover, roughly the size of two pickup trucks side by side, that must fit on a 1.5m-by-1m pallet. Mid-design phase, CSA chose to shelve designs for the four-ton rover initially envisioned for 2034—at least temporarily—and asked companies to instead target a two-ton product that could ship ~3 to ~4 years faster.
Given the Moon Base timeline, waiting until 2034 risked the tech becoming “obsolete,” Mission Control CEO and founder Ewan Reid told Payload. “As a collective industry, an ecosystem in Canada, I think we all looked at ourselves and recognized that,” added Reid, whose company has developed tech, instruments, and software for several Moon missions already.
The companies emphasized the rover tech has applications for other Moon projects, even if their concept isn’t selected.
“We’re actively part of rover programs for the US, and for the European Space Agency as well,” Canadensys President and CEO Christian Sallaberger told Payload. The company has also won dozens of CSA lunar contracts in ~15 years—suggesting sustained Canadian demand.
More Moonbits: Separately, NordSpace plans to launch its self-funded TERRY Moon rover next year. And Canada recently canceled a planned mini-rover by Canadensys, but the country is pushing forward on sovereign launch.
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