NordSpace plans to spend $5 million on the first stage of development, or Phase A, of Spaceport Canada, to provide a platform for the company's Tundra orbital launch vehicle and associated vehicles in the future, the company announced today.
The spaceport site has not yet been identified nor has a launch date been released, but NordSpace stressed that it has been meeting with local communities and governments, as well as visiting several potential sites in person. Preliminary applications and work on matters ranging from rezoning to permitting and land acquisition are ongoing. The location will be announced prior to the launch of NordSpace’s second experimental suborbital vehicle, when the rocket will lift off from the new spaceport.
“Our nation is at an absolutely critical moment, where our sovereignty, our environment, our defense, our economy, everything is at stake because without access to space, the country doesn’t function. The world doesn’t function anymore. That’s why we’re moving so fast,” NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told SpaceQ.
“Our goal is to create a comprehensive capability for Canada and certainly the rest of the world. Very Rocket Lab-like,” Goel said, citing the small U.S. launch company that operates out of Virginia and New Zealand. “It’s a big source of inspiration for us as we build, operate and launch small satellites, (with) a spaceport and launch vehicles all under one roof to maximize efficiency, minimize costs and capture the entire value chain.”
According to Goel, the money will come entirely from NordSpace’s owners and, as a private investment, “it will move very quickly” as the company itself will take on the initial financial and technical risk. The goal is ultimately to match the funding with provincial and federal funding programs “to multiply the benefits,” he said.
This would be the second major announcement about launch pad activity in Canada in recent years, the second being the ongoing evolution of Maritime Launch Systems’ Spaceport Nova Scotia launch site in Canso (northeast of Halifax and near the Atlantic Ocean coast). Canada is the only G7 nation without an independent launch capability and currently launches most satellites and missions from the United States.
Goel said he foresees new spaceports popping up around the world in the coming years, which is in line with what has been seen in places like the U.K. and Europe. The key differentiating factor for any spaceport's success in this fast-growing market, he said, is not just offering launch capabilities, but also an “end-to-end launch architecture” along the lines of NordSpace's goals.
Even if other places don’t have to deal with the winter cold like Canada, Goel said the fundamental question of sovereignty remains key for many businesses in Canada. “It’s like there are literally no airports in Canada and you have to pay for a rental car to cross the border and pay tolls every time you want to fly somewhere. That’s what our satellite companies in Canada are doing right now.”
In January 2023, the Canadian government agreed to approve space launches in Canada on a case-by-case basis, while working to simplify the complex regulations surrounding Canadian rocketry activities. Canada has lacked independent launch capability for a generation, and as market demand for small satellites is growing significantly, including for defence applications, there have been calls for independent launch capability within Canada for years.
NordSpace plans to deploy two launch pads at Spaceport Canada, called Pad A and B, and says they will offer orbital inclinations between 45 and 95 degrees. This range covers both equatorial and polar orbits and may be the largest offering of orbital trajectories available in North America, according to NordSpace.
According to Goel, Pad A would be used for the Tundra rocket, which has about two percent of the capacity of a typical Falcon 9 rocket. He said that would be sufficient for Canada's needs since we don't have demand for heavy launch vehicles like we do in the United States.
Platform B would be intended for potential US launch partners. US vehicles would be acquired under a joint agreement technological safeguards agreement – a bilateral treaty between the United States and Canada – and may include entities such as the U.S. Space Force, the U.S. Department of Defense and Space Systems Command, all of which have been seeking faster launch capabilities in recent years.
NordSpace welcomed the support of Transport Canada, NAV Canada, Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Space Agency in preparing its plans for the spaceport.
Earlier this year, NordSpace announced that they had ended their First test of a ready-to-fly rocket engine and planned a launch into suborbital space later that year.
