Canada Enters the Commercial Spaceport Business
Nova Scotia based company begins construction of launch services facility
Maritime Launch recently received the go ahead to initiate the establishment of a small to medium port center located on the tip of a peninsula on the east side of the province. Initial objectives are to begin with suborbital operations and build the infrastructure, government support, and client base from that point. The proposed first mission is tentatively set for Q2 of 2023 utilizing a small-class Reaction Dynamics vehicle with a 150 kg max payload rating. Plans to expand to medium capacity launches will follow with a cadence of about 8-10 per year.
$200 million will be spent to construct the site which continues a trend toward privatization of space flight. A key factor is that the company won’t have to rely on public sector launch locations which will presumably ease and optimize scheduling, costs, safety, and inclination location that can very effectively reach polar and sun-synchronous orbits.
The primary current partner is a manufacturer based out of Ukraine, but despite the current difficulties there Maritime anticipates that hardware and other associated manufactured products to be used will be readily available. The first customer has been signed – a company that specializes in smallsat deployment – and a recent agreement was also initiated with a UK-based organization for vehicle, support, payload and other services thus activity at the preliminary stages is tangible.
Ecosystem analyses of areas near the site have been completed and the Canadian government has deemed that all requirements have been sufficiently met thus it appears at this point that there may be legitimate viability depending on how things fare with the initial small-scale facilities and missions.
A number of ventures and public sector entities have recently announced plans to attempt to establish similar facilities – some with greater success and more cogent plans than others. We’ll know fairly soon whether or not a Canadian launch option will provide a viable service for those interested.
