Shaun Riddell is “over the moon” — figuratively, if not quite yet literally — since his Langley, B.C., firm was named among three companies hired by the Canadian Space Agency to lay the groundwork for human and robotic missions to the lunar surface. Riddell, the CEO of SpaceDirt, says he was “blown away” by the awarding of the $500,000 contract, given the competition for the national grant. SpaceDirt makes technology for autonomous robotic resource development on Earth, aimed at predicting where to drill and making discovery faster, safer, and more cost-effective in extreme environments.

Read more.