JAKARTA – From year to year, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) continues to support long-term development to welcome humans to the Moon, both in terms of technology and scientific studies.

This year, the CSA continues to demonstrate its support by funding the Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative (LSEI) through a limited tender. It is hoped that these funds will help the company develop conceptual studies for projects on the Moon.

From a number of companies that submitted bids, the ASC selected six projects from four companies. All projects selected were projects that were entering the prototype or initial design phase.

The four selected companies are Canadensys, Canadian Space Mining Corporation (CSMC), Honeywell and MDA. The four of them will receive a total of 2.9 million US dollars, or about 44.9 billion rupees, to develop five core areas of lunar exploration.

Canadensys received funding of US$449,000 (Rs. 6.9 billion) to build a prototype of plant growth and water disinfection sets and US$500,000 (Rs. 7.7 billion) to build a prototype rover vehicle for land operations.

The next company to receive funding is CSMC. This company received funding of US$499 (Rs7.7 billion) to build a prototype HYDRO+ technology that uses an integrated gas reduction method.

Additionally, Honeywell received US$500,000 (Rs. 7.7 billion) in funding to develop a prototype terminal faceplate with low-power tracking. This project was built to strengthen long-range optical communications.

Finally, the CSA provided MDA with funds amounting to US$449 (Rs7.6 billion) to develop and evaluate the driving algorithm. They also received US$500 (Rs 7.7 billion) in funding to develop algorithms and management tools for autonomous power plants.