Since its maiden voyage aboard U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), known as Canadarm, has demonstrated its reliability, usefulness, and versatility and has provided strong, yet precise and delicate handling of its payloads.  

Canadarm was designed, developed and built by MDA, under contract to the National Research Council of Canada. The first arm was Canada's contribution to NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Subsequently, NASA ordered four additional units which have resulted in over $900 million in export sales for Canada.  

Canadarm has performed flawlessly for over 25 years; placing satellites into their proper orbit and retrieving malfunctioning ones for repair. Perhaps its most notable mission was the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. Canadarm was used as a mobile work platform for astronauts during numerous space walks required to repair the faulty telescope. Canadarm played a critical role retrieving the satellite, placing it in the cargo bay for repairs, and then re-deploying it.  

Unplanned exercises for Canadarm have included knocking a block of ice from a clogged waste-water vent that might have endangered the shuttle upon re-entry, pushing a faulty antenna into place, and successfully activating a satellite that failed to go into proper orbit.

In December, 1998 Canadarm played a critical role in the first assembly mission of the International Space Station, mating the U.S. Unity Node to the Russian-built Zarya. Canadarm will continue to play a vital role in the assembly of the space station. On STS-100, Canadarm assisted with the delivery and installation of a new generation robotic arm, Canadarm2.   

The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System consists of a shoulder, elbow and wrist joint separated by an upper and lower arm boom. The shoulder joint has two degrees of freedom, the elbow joint has one degree of freedom, and the wrist joint has up to three degrees of freedom.

At a total weight of approximately 905 lbs., the Canadarm has recently been upgraded to maneuver payloads of up to 266,000 kgs. (in the weightlessness of space). Canadarm uses an end effector with a specially designed grapple fixture to capture payloads & place them in orbit.