It will likely be a few days before Canada’s robotic arm is deployed to the International Space Station.
MDA Space’s Canadarm2 won’t celebrate its 50th space capture until August 5, when the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship will dock at the International Space Station (ISS) carrying thousands of pounds of experiments, supplies and food for Expedition 71 astronauts. Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announce Today (August 2nd).
Cygnus is scheduled to launch to the ISS no later than 11:29 a.m. EDT (03:29 GMT) on August 3, and the mission can be viewed on Space.com, courtesy of NASA+ (formerly NASA Television). If Cygnus launches on time, it will be captured by Canadarm2 and docked to the ISS around 3:55 a.m. EDT (07:55 GMT) on August 5. The broadcast begins at 2:30 a.m. EDT (06:30 GMT) on NASA+.
CSA-funded and managed by MDA Space, Canadarm2 was first launched into space on April 19, 2001, on Space Shuttle mission STS-100. Mission astronaut Chris Hadfield performed the first-ever CSA spacewalk to install the arm, and celebrated by playing the Canadian national anthem in space and jokingly referring to fellow spacewalker Scott Parazynski (NASA) as an “honorary Canadian.”
The arm’s first spacecraft capture was on September 17, 2009, when it captured Japan’s HTV-1 (the “HTV” stands for H-II Transfer Vehicle, a now-retired series of cargo spacecraft). Over the next 15 years, spacecraft docked at Canadarm2 ranged from SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon to Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus.
Canadarm2 forms part of a series of Canadian robotic arms based on several generations of telescope tube technology seen in space applications, from the extendable antenna to the Apollo program’s lunar bridge.In collaboration with Canadian Cancer” (Elizabeth Howell, ECW Press, 2020.)
Canadarm first flew into space on November 12, 1981, during Shuttle mission STS-2, operated by Spar Aerospace and the National Research Council of Canada (a government agency that managed spaceflight before the CSA was established in 1989). Canadarm has been used for spacewalks, several Hubble Space Telescope missions, and improvised maneuvers, including: Knock on the ice plug According to NASA, it came from a frozen space shuttle drain pipe.
The success of the Canadarm in space allowed the NRC and CSA to pay for astronaut seats on the Shuttle, as the robotic arm provided a net benefit to NASA’s activities in orbit. (The first Canadian astronaut to be assigned to the NRC at that time was Marc Garneau, who flew on STS-41G in October 1983.) That crew placement continues to this day, and will continue on future Artemis program missions to the Moon.
Related: Canadian Astronaut on Artemis 2 Secures Moon Mission Seat with ‘Potato Salad’
MDA Space (then MDA) acquired the space robotics division of Spar Aerospace in 1999. According to the National Post,MDA Space’s Canadarm2 has been in operation since 2001, and in 2007 Parazynski led a risky spacewalk using modified tools to repair a torn solar panel.
Canadarm2 more generally helped construct the ISS alongside Canadarm, and continues to appear on ISS maintenance spacewalks. MDA Space’s CSA-funded robotic helper, Dextre, was launched in 2008 for more delicate ISS maintenance tasks.
In recent years, the Canadarm2 team has gained so much trust from NASA that much of its work is now permitted to be done from the ground control facility at CSA’s headquarters near Montreal, Quebec. And CSA was invited to join Artemis in 2019 by supplying a new robotic arm, the Canadarm3. MDA Space has been awarded a series of Canadarm3 contracts and is finalizing the design for an anticipated launch in 2029 to support NASA’s Gateway space station on the moon.
NASA has been adamant that CSA is a reliable source of robotics, Podwalski told Space.com in 2023. Robotics is a strategic expense for the space agency, which has a small budget of $300 million.$413 million CAD) is a significant reduction from NASA’s $25.4 billion annual budget in 2025. Beyond space, robotics could also be repurposed for medical and mining applications in remote areas of Canada, giving Canada another reason to invest in the technology.
Canadarm3 has funded the lunar orbit of CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen aboard the Artemis 2 mission, making him the first Canadian to leave low Earth orbit. His 2025 mission, accompanied by three NASA astronauts, will be the first in a series of CSA Artemis missions to the Gateway and possibly the lunar surface itself.
Ken Podvalski, executive director of the CSA Gateway program, has been in charge of Canadian Space Robotics for most of his career. He was involved in negotiations for Hansen’s position, which took four years as NASA and CSA’s policy priorities had to be aligned on the issue and funding had to be secured.
In an interview, Podvalski likened the CSA robot to a wonderful “potato salad” created to complement other main dishes at a feast.
“Everyone expects Canada to bring potato salad,” Podwalksi told Space.com 2023, just before Hansen’s spot was announced on April 3. And he said other lunar programs could be built from that. “Potato salad gets you in the door, no problem. […] And that doesn’t stop you from bringing something else. You’re part of the party now. Now is a good time to bring something else.”
Of course, CSA has other funding sources beyond its annual budget, such as working with other Canadian government agencies and industry to further increase funding. It has also made repeated, multi-billion dollar one-time government funding investments in Artemis in recent years.
CSA’s other lunar exploration contracts include funding for a mini-rover for science and a multi-purpose rover for Artemis astronaut payloads, as well as funding for a range of lunar-related technologies focused specifically on lunar science, astronaut health, and adequate deep space rations.
