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Mission Control and Astrobotic partner for joint rover demonstration mission on the Moon flying aboard the Griffin lander.

OTTAWA, ON, April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Mission Control and Astrobotic are partnering for a joint rover demonstration mission on the Moon. Astrobotic's CubeRoverâ„¢ integrated with Mission Control's Spacefarerâ„¢ operations platform will travel to the lunar south pole on Astrobotic's first upcoming Griffin lander mission.

Astrobotic's CubeRover is a scalable rover designed to traverse multiple kilometers across planetary bodies and accommodate a vast variety of payloads. Mission Control's Spacefarerâ„¢ software platform will integrate with the shoebox-sized CubeRover to demonstrate commanding and monitoring of a lunar rover in real time.

"We are delighted to form this partnership with Astrobotic who are among the forerunners driving the creation of a new lunar economy" said Dr. Samara Pillay, Vice-President of AI & Space Products at Mission Control. "Their trust in licensing our Spacefarerâ„¢ operations platform for a three-year period is an important validation of our value proposition to customers and we look forward to supporting them on many missions to come with this mission-critical technology."

This demonstration mission is being supported by a financial contribution from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) through their Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP). This contribution is a critical enabler for Canadian companies to form partnerships with American counterparts leading the charge back to the Moon.

"CubeRover's development has been backed by $20+ million in NASA awards and decades of experience. Because it has been engineered alongside Astrobotic's lunar landers, CubeRover can achieve long-range communications and traverse multiple kilometers across the Moon's surface. We're pleased to have Spacefarerâ„¢ aboard this first mission to provide them with as much operations data as possible," says Mike Provenzano, Astrobotic's Director of Lunar Surface Systems.

Spacefarerâ„¢ was developed with the support of the CSA's Space Technology Development program. Designed to command and control a wide variety of robotics and advanced payloads, Spacefarerâ„¢ provides an intuitive and reliable web-based operations platform, user-friendly and flexible interfaces, and robust cloud architecture, to operate robots and payloads anywhere, anytime.

"Having been the first Canadian owned company to participate in a real lunar rover mission, we're thrilled to remain in our leadership position when it comes to lunar rover missions," said Ewan Reid, Founder & CEO of Mission Control. "For decades Canada has been an international leader in space robotics and maintaining that position will require a continued expansion of the Canadian industrial base to support what is expected to be a rapidly growing lunar economy."

Astrobotic is scheduled to launch its Griffin lunar lander no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2024 making this one of the first in a wave of commercial missions to the Moon. "This international partnership exemplifies the benefits of a commercial approach to lunar exploration and a validation of the emerging cis-lunar economy," said Mike Provenzano, Astrobotic's Director of Lunar Surface Systems. "NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and the CSA's LEAP are putting North American firms at the forefront of humanity's return to the Moon."

About Mission Control,

Mission Control empowers explorers by innovating to make advanced software viable for use in space. Using Spacefarerâ„¢ and SpacefarerAIâ„¢, customers can simplify mission development and operations while unlocking the potential of new scientific and commercial opportunities on the Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond. Spacefarerâ„¢ is being trusted for multiple missions to the Moon by mission controllers, scientists, and software developers who seek faster deployments, lower-cost mission development, and valuable data returns. Mission Control is inspired by a vision of the world in which access to space is ubiquitous and inspires all humans to treasure planet Earth and marvel at the universe.

We acknowledge the support of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) [4CAPDEMO22]

About Astrobotic,

Astrobotic is the Moon company and more. We develop key technologies for space exploration, including lunar rovers, landers, and infrastructure, and spacecraft navigation, machine vision, and computing systems for in-space robotic applications. To date, the company has been contracted for two lunar missions, and has won more than 60 NASA, DoD, and commercial technology contracts worth more than $600 million.

We recently launched the first American lunar lander mission since the Apollo Program and are contracted to deliver NASA's VIPER rover to the south pole of the Moon. Beyond helping lead America back to the Moon, Astrobotic develops reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets and advanced rocket engines.

Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, with a propulsion and test campus in Mojave, CA

Media Contact

Candice Kinney, Mission Control, 1 6132070470, [email protected],

Alivia Chapla, Astrobotic, [email protected],  

SOURCE Mission Control