MDA Space Missions - What We Do - Robotics

MDA has been developing planetary exploration systems for over a decade. Building upon 30 years of robotics heritage in manned and unmanned spaceflight, MDA offers a broad suite of technologies that span the range of exploration phases:

orbital reconnaissance
orbital rendezvous and docking
precision landing & hazard avoidance
surface science instruments
advanced vision (laser & camera based)
rovers and surface mobility
manipulators / robotic arms
surface and subsurface sample acquisition, processing & handling

As a leading prime contractor for space missions, MDA combines flight hardware heritage with end-to-end system capability and has developed systems, technologies and mission concepts for exploration of the Moon, Mars, asteroids and other solar system bodies. MDA is providing technologies for the next three international Mars surface missions, for example:

NASA Phoenix Meteorological Station (MET): MDA designed and developed the Phoenix MET instrument to characterize the Martian atmosphere. The lidar instrument was built in partnership with lidar partner Optech, the CSA and FMI. Phoenix was launched successfully in 2007 and landed on Mars on May 25, 2008
MSL Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): due to launch in 2009, MDA designed and built the MSL APXS instrument which will provide elemental composition measurements to better understand Mars geology aboard the MSL rover.
ESA ExoMars Rover: MDA is currently leading Phase B1 design activity for the ExoMars Rover Chassis & Locomotion System, including the delivery of an ExoMars Locomotion Breadboard in early 2008. ExoMars is scheduled for launch in 2013.

MDA works extensively with industrial and academic partners internationally and has provided exploration systems and technologies for a wide range of government customers including NASA, DARPA, ESA, CSA and JAXA. MDA has a long and successful history in commercial space and is leveraging this experience in the execution of contracts for a number of partners in the emerging area of commercial space exploration.