Sponsorship from MDA Space allows Mission Control’s Rover Driving Academy to continue giving Canadian students from coast to coast to coast the chance to operate a lunar rover prototype from their classroom
OTTAWA, ON, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Mission Control and MDA Space, recognized Canadian space industry leaders, have teamed up to bring a lunar rover driving experience to Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. The Rover Driving Academy is a distinctive educational program available free of charge to students in grades six to nine across Canada. Designed to teach students about space science, robotic exploration, and team building, the activity culminates with a hands-on immersive experience controlling a real lunar rover prototype in Mission Control’s Moonyard.
The Rover Driving Academy was developed with the support of the Canadian Space Agency and has reached more than 4,000 students across Canada to date. The new sponsorship will enable the continued delivery of the program and afford thousands of additional students the opportunity to drive rovers in Mission Control’s Moonyard, a 4,000 square foot lunar analogue testbed located in Ottawa.
To access the program, teachers can simply register their classes, download educational material and book a date for their students’ mission. Working from the comfort of their classroom, students use Mission Control’s Spacefarer™ software—a cutting-edge technology that will also be used on several real missions to the Moon later this year.
“Rovers have always played a critical role in space exploration and the demand for space technology and STEM skills is rapidly increasing as the global space economy grows,” said Ian McLeod, VP Corporate Development at MDA Space. “By supporting the Rover Driving Academy and the growth of small and medium businesses, we are building a strong foundation for Canada’s lunar exploration efforts, while also inspiring and educating the next generation of space leaders with hands-on experience.”
Through their use of Spacefarer™ students directly contribute to Canada’s effort to return humans to the Moon. “The thousands of hours using our software in these educational missions allows our engineers to gather data, find and fix bugs and ultimately improve the product for use on future missions” said Ewan Reid, Founder & CEO of Mission Control. “Space exploration is about collaboration and bringing people together, and we’re thrilled to partner with MDA Space to continue to inspire young minds and help shape the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.”
Both Mission Control and MDA Space are building technology that will be used by humans for exploring the lunar environment in the coming years. MDA Space is part of the Lunar Outpost Lunar Terrain Vehicle team that NASA selected to develop a human-rated Moon rover, which will leverage MDA SKYMAKER™, a suite of commercial space robotics technology and services derived from Canadarm technology. The company is also investing in lunar rover logistics capabilities to support the permanent human presence on the Moon. Mission Control will be providing technology for three upcoming rover missions with partners across three continents including a joint rover demonstration mission with Astrobotic flying to the south pole of the Moon later this year.
For more information about the Rover Driving Academy or to sign up your class, visit Rover Driving Academy – Mission Control.
About Mission Control
Mission Control empowers explorers by innovating to make advanced technology viable for use in space. Using Spacefarer™ and SpacefarerAI™, customers can simplify mission development and operations while unlocking the potential of new scientific and commercial opportunities on the Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond. Spacefarer™ is being trusted for multiple missions to the Moon by mission controllers, scientists, and software developers who seek faster deployments, lower-cost mission development, and valuable data returns. Mission Control is inspired by a vision of the world in which access to space is ubiquitous and inspires all humans to treasure planet Earth and marvel at the universe. For more information, visit www.missioncontrolspace.com
About MDA Space
Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space is a trusted mission partner to the global space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. The MDA Space team of more than 3,400 space experts in Canada, the US and the UK has the knowledge and know-how to turn an audacious customer vision into an achievable mission – bringing to bear a one-of-a-kind mix of experience, engineering excellence and wide-eyed wonder that’s been in our DNA since day one. For those who dream big and push boundaries on the ground and in the stars to change the world for the better, we’ll take you there. For more information, visit www.mda.space.
