International Lunar Observatory Association Selects Canadensys for ILO-1 Mission
Observatory to be Deployed Near the Lunar South Pole
The International Lunar Observatory Association has awarded a contract to Canadensys to design and build the instrument suite for ILOA’s flagship ILO-1 mission. The ILO-1 is a ground-breaking Observatory which will be deployed near the lunar south pole to image the Galaxy center, the celestial sky, and the Earth and Moon surface, and to communicate these images back to Earth. The observatory will be designed to survive lunar night, and will operate on the lunar surface for at least one year. The mission is set to begin operations on the Moon in 2027.
“(W)e are pleased now to select Canadensys to design and build the instrument suite for our flagship ILO-1 mission.”
Steve Durst, ILOA
The instrument suite will be delivered to the Moon with the Astrolab FLEX rover, which is scheduled to launch to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket not earlier than December 2026. The instrument will be mounted on the FLEX rover panoramic light bar, enabling it to capture wide-angle imagery of the celestial sky and the lunar environment, including potentially shadowed regions never before explored.
“Following Canadensys’ successful design and build of our precursor ILO-X observatory, which landed on the Moon in 2024, we are pleased now to select Canadensys to design and build the instrument suite for our flagship ILO-1 mission, for observation and communication, including Space Calendar, from the Moon,” said Steve Durst, Director of ILOA.
“We are honored and humbled to be selected by ILOA for this work and to play our role in making the visionary ILO-1 Observatory a reality,” said Christian Sallaberger, president & CEO of Canadensys Aerospace. “ILOA is doing fantastic work, and our entire team is enthusiastic to keep working with our friends at ILOA.”
Canadensys is a space exploration company. Its efforts sending scientific instruments to the Moon, building Canada’s first lunar rover (for scientific exploration), developing a large Lunar Utility Vehicle as part of the Artemis program, developing off-world mining equipment, building lunar greenhouses, and being a key supplier to various international commercial exploration missions, are helping open up space exploration for humanity. The ILO-1 mission is aligned with our vision for long-term human exploration and presence beyond Earth’s orbit.