NordSpace will work with C-Core to establish aerospace communications infrastructure across Canada.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week to conduct joint site engineering, regulatory planning, and business case studies for new ground stations across the country. Ground stations, sometimes known as Earth stations, are equipped with satellite dishes and telemetry equipment to communicate, track, and control satellites and other aerial systems.
Based in St. John’s, NL, C-Core is a research and development firm with expertise in radar and space hardware development. The firm currently has ground stations in Inuvik, NWT, and in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL. The new MOU includes initial planned stations in Inuvik and NordSpace’s Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) in St. Lawrence, NL, which is approximately 350 kilometres away from St. John’s.
The ground stations will expand Canadian capabilities for global satellite communications access and support launch operations from Canadian soil, according to NordSpace. The Markham-based company has been trying to execute Canada’s first commercial rocket launch since August, but has experienced multiple setbacks during its launch windows.
“C-Core’s collaboration will help ensure reliability of our commercial launch activities both at our spaceport, and in the High Arctic where Canadian sovereignty and security are under threat,” NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel said in a statement. “These capabilities will also open new revenue streams for NordSpace and help further vertically integrate our space missions.”
NordSpace was featured in BetaKit Most Ambitious for its goal of facilitating Canada’s first commercial space launch. The aerospace company also wants to develop space launch vehicles, spaceports, and satellites entirely in Canada. It hopes these efforts will bolster the country’s space mission capacity, which it argues will aid the country’s security and sovereignty.
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The company broke ground on the ASX, set to become Canada’s first operational commercial spaceport, this August. The spaceport will feature launchpads for orbital and suborbital missions, and will have facilities for radar systems as well as other ground support equipment.
While construction is underway, the company’s initial launch attempts at the ASX have relied on temporary mobile infrastructure shipped from Ontario. So far, an erroneous trigger of its rocket’s ignition safety system and fuel issues have kept the company’s dreams grounded. A new launch date is expected sometime in the “coming weeks.”
Feature image courtesy NordSpace.