Canada plans to develop a radar system designed to observe the surface and subsurface of Mars as part of a NASA orbiter mission to the planet that is expected to launch in 2022, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.
David Pugliese writes Navdeep Bains, Canada’s innovation science and economic development minister, said the ice-surface sub sounder that would be integrated with NASA’s Next Mars Orbiter will work to provide geological data for potential landing sites in Mars.
The Canadian government awarded MDA Corp. a $344,000 contract in March to carry out a study on the radar instrument for the NeMO project.
Canada also plans to build 13 Cubesats to be fielded from the International Space Station and demonstrate space applications of quantum technology platforms.
The country will spend approximately $65 million on the three projects over the next five years with a plan to start funding the programs this year, the report added.
