As expected the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded MDA a contract to cover their work in supporting the operations and maintenance of the Mobile Servicing System on the International Space Station (ISS).
The Mobile Servicing System includes the Canadarm2, Dextre and the Mobile Base System.
The $190 million contract was awarded on March 26 and “will enable MDA to provide essential engineering and logistics support over the next four years” a CSA spokesperson told SpaceQ in an email.
In the 2015 budget the government made the commitment for Canada’s continued participation in the ISS through 2024.
This contract will take Canada through the end of its current commitment in 2024. It was thought in 2015 that 2024 might mark the end of the ISS. However, there is interest in keeping the unique test bed that is the ISS in service beyond that date, possibly to 2030 and beyond.
The U.S. Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee proposed last fall continuing the ISS until 2030.
A decision on an extension of the lifespan of the ISS to 2030 will need to be made relatively soon to allow partner nations time to get authorization and budgets in place by their respective governments.