Aerospace startup NordSpace has been granted a new window to attempt Canada’s first commercial rocket launch following a thwarted effort at the end of August.
The new launch window is set to open Sept. 20 and last until Sept. 27, NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told BetaKit. The company will have two time blocks per day: one from 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), and another from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ADT.
Twelve members of the NordSpace team, which is based in Markham, Ont., will fly out to the Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) launch site near St. Lawrence, Nfld., this weekend.
The launch will mark the first commercial liquid rocket launch in Canadian history.
News of the new launch window follows a series of scrubbed attempts from the week of Aug. 25 that culminated in a forced delay just 58 seconds before liftoff. Unsuitable weather conditions (including Hurricane Erin) and a faulty rocket ignition safety system pushed the company to postpone the launch right before its window expired.
Goel said the mishaps were “par for the course” when attempting a rocket launch, attributing them to differences in the operational environment versus the testing environment.
“Everything went extremely well, all things considered,” he said of the first attempts. “We’re trying to improve our process…so we can launch on a dime.”
The aerospace startup hopes to conduct the first suborbital flight of its Taiga rocket, which is about 17 feet tall (about the length of a school bus). NordSpace said the launch will mark both the first commercial liquid rocket launch in Canadian history and the first commercial launch from a private Canadian spaceport.
The Taiga launch has been in the works for over a year, as NordSpace secured approvals from governing agencies such as Transport Canada and the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Agriculture. Goel said it’s been “really encouraging” to feel supported by governments at the provincial and federal levels for the launch.
Founded in 2022 by Goel, NordSpace aims to develop space launch vehicles, spaceports, and satellites entirely in Canada. Part of the company’s mission is to foster Canada’s space mission capacity, including satellites and robotics for orbiting the Earth and the moon. NordSpace argues that developing this technology will propel Canada back into the space race, aiding its security and sovereignty. NordSpace was featured in BetaKit Most Ambitious for its mission to facilitate Canada’s first commercial space launch. Montréal-based Reaction Dynamics is also planning to launch a rocket into orbit from a planned Spaceport Nova Scotia facility in 2028.