UM Todaysatellite – UM Today

CJOB: From Manitoba to the Moon: UM’s Tiny Satellite Heads for Orbit

Eleanor Coopsammy — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 04:24:11 +0000

The University of Manitoba’s Star Lab is designing a satellite, roughly the size of a milk carton, to orbit the moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This satellite will carry a multispectral camera developed with the University of Winnipeg and a tool to measure lunar soil composition, aiding future lunar exploration and potential fuel production. Dr. Phil Ferguson, Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, is the director of Star Lab.

The full interview is available on CJOB.

CTV Montreal: Montreal scientist co-leads project in NASA space probe competition

Fiona Odlum — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 18:10:39 +0000

The team consists of several scientists from around the world including University of Manitoba physics professor Samar Safi-Harb.

“Aside from the excitement and the feeling that the hard work has paid off, obviously there was a huge scene behind this,” the professor said.

Safi-Harb and Haggard are the only two Canadian science leads on the team.

To read the full article and to watch the news story, please follow the link to CTV Montreal.

CTV Winnipeg: U of M developing drone airships to improve connectivity in the Arctic

Fiona Odlum — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 20:45:36 +0000

The University of Manitoba has launched a new project to find unconventional and innovative ways to bring internet access to the Arctic.

The project is called ‘Arctic Community Connectivity for Equity, Sustainability and Service’ (ACCESS). The goal of the initiative is to find solutions to improve connectivity in Canada’s north by creating a drone airship that will act as a satellite communications hub.

This will improve safety for hunters and researchers, as well as search and rescue teams in remote areas.

“This is us responding to the needs that we’ve heard with our Indigenous and Inuit collaborators and researchers that are saying they need better connectivity to support hunters and trappers on the ice, and search and rescue,” said Philip Ferguson, a U of M engineering professor who is leading the project.