For the longest time, Canada has relied on other nations’ rockets to send its satellites into orbit — a system so reliable that many have forgotten it wasn’t always this way.
In 1999, as we were developing the RADARSAT-2, the earth observation satellite’s advanced capability raised eyebrows south of the border. It was so good, the Americans refused to launch it, saying its high-precision imaging ability to see through clouds and darkness posed national security concerns.
It wasn’t until 2007 that Canada finally launched the RADARSAT-2 into low Earth orbit aboard a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan. It continues to circle the earth today, an unyielding sentinel watching over the nation.
This is an example of why Canada needs the sovereign capability to launch its own rockets into orbit — an issue that’s becoming more pressing in today’s geopolitics, said Andrea Harrington, co-director of the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University.
As early as April 1, Jeremy Hansen will become the first Canadian to travel to the moon’s vicinity, joining four NASA astronauts on Artemis II.
But Canada remains the only G7 country without a space launch capability despite its storied history as a space pioneer. (France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. have access to the launch system through the European Space Agency.)
That could change soon, thanks to Ottawa’s $183-million pledge to build a domestic launch capability announced in the fall budget. Last week, the federal government awarded nearly $25 million to three Canadian rocket startups to develop the initial ability to reach orbit by 2028, along with a $200-million contract to a Canadian spaceport for a launch pad.
“It’s incredibly encouraging. With the defence industrial strategy identifying orbital launch as a key sovereign capability, this is what making that real looks like,” said Alex MacDonald, a Canadian who served as a former chief economist at NASA.
“We’re in a really good place.”
A high-stakes race
When Bachar Elzein founded Canada’s first rocket company, Reaction Dynamics, in Montreal in 2017, he said he couldn’t get a loan from the bank because he was working on a defence startup.
Breaking with the norm of conventional liquid and solid engines, Elzein’s team developed a hybrid rocket engine capable of sustaining peak efficiency long enough to reach space — a problem that had stumped engineers for decades.
The company, which has raised $45 million so far, was in the research and development stage until three years ago, when it finally had the team to start building its Aurora-8 rocket, aimed to offer rapid launch for small satellites under 200 kilograms.
Then came the government’s announcement last fall, upending the landscape.
“I was really impressed to see that the support was overt and … really ambitious,” said Elzein, noting that he has since seen a strong uptick in interest from investors and suppliers. “I think we’ve needed that in the country for the longest time.”
Reaction Dynamics is in a space race with two other domestic rocket companies: NordSpace, founded in 2022, and Canadian Rocket Company, which raised $6.2 million of seed round funding in January.
Rahul Goel, founder of NordSpace, told the Star that the government made the right move by sending “clear signals” to markets and talent that launch capability is a top priority.
“I had both the feeling of gratitude … but also a tremendous feeling of responsibility, should we have the opportunity to be of service to Canada,” said Goel.
NordSpace is moving to a Markham facility five times the size of the company’s current space to support orbital rocket development. It made a few failed attempts to launch Canada’s first commercial rocket into suborbit from Newfoundland last year and will try again this year.
Goel said his team is focusing on developing its Tundra rocket with 3D-printed liquid-fueled engines, designed to carry payloads of up to 500 kilograms, for the orbital mission. Beyond building rockets, NordSpace also owns a Newfoundland spaceport and will launch its first self-funded dual-use satellite into space by hitching a ride on a rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2026.
For Canadian Rocket Company CEO Hugh Kolias, the government’s announcement last fall was the very reason he chose to start a rocket company with his co-founder and former SpaceX engineer David Tenny in Canada.
The Toronto-based startup aims to follow SpaceX’s path by first developing a light-lift rocket powered by a liquid methane–liquid oxygen engine, and then clustering seven of these engines into a reusable medium-lift vehicle capable of delivering up to 6,500 kg.
Kolias said he decided to pursue his childhood dream of building rockets after selling his software startup, Yuhu, in 2022, but initially considered moving to Europe due to the Canadian government’s limited emphasis on launch capability.
“I think we definitely wouldn’t have been able to launch the company without direction like that from the federal government,” he said. “Without that, I don’t think the private markets would have considered this a serious enough endeavour from a public policy perspective.”
Low Earth orbit by 2028
Since 2018, Halifax has been home to Stephen Matier, a former NASA engineer who moved to Nova Scotia to build Canada’s first commercial spaceport, Maritime Launch Services.
Several times a month, he makes the three-hour drive from the city to Canso, a quiet, centuries-old fishing town, where his launch site is taking shape. Last week, the facility secured a historic 10-year, $200 million federal lease for a dedicated launch pad, with most of the funds required to be spent in Canada.
“We’ve been working really long and hard to get this initiative into a position where it is today, teed up for success,” said Matier. “It’s really an important piece for us for being a revenue-generating company, definitely on a positive track.”
The launch pad news came alongside Ottawa’s announcement selecting NordSpace, Canada Rocket Company, and Reaction Dynamics, each receiving an $8.3-million grant in the first round of the “Launch the North” contest.
The three-year, outcome-based challenge, worth up to $105 million, aims to enable light-lift launches — carrying payloads of up to 200 kg — to reach low Earth orbit by 2028.
This marks the first step in Canada’s 10-year push for medium-lift capability, enabling the deployment of 4,000 kg-class payloads, such as national security satellites, which are vital to sovereignty.
Last November, Maritime Launch Services hosted the successful launch of a Dutch suborbital rocket from Canso, though it fell short of the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 kilometres, widely recognized as the boundary of outer space.
The company, which is constructing three more launch pads, is planning to host two suborbital launches this year and expects to support an orbital launch by 2027.
Reaction Dynamics has leased a Maritime Launch Services pad for an orbital launch in 2028 and plans to conduct its first-ever suborbital launch from Australia in 2026.
Similarly, Goel said NordSpace, which operates the Atlantic Spaceport Complex in Newfoundland, will conduct a suborbital launch in April and prepare to reach orbit by 2028.
While forming teams only recently, Canadian Rocket Company’s Kolias said he has brought in experts with more than 10 years of rocket-building experience and has also set his goal of reaching orbit first.
“We’re making sure we’re not reinventing the technical wheel and are really focused on execution,” said Kolias.
‘An incredible start’
The $183-million commitment from the federal government represents the biggest push Canada has ever seen for domestic space launch, said space law professor Andrea Harrington.
“The trade tensions with the United States are a significant factor, but the instability in global trade, geopolitically evolving over the last couple of years, is having an influence as well,” she said.
Space has become the front-line of modern warfare, notes MacDonald, the former chief economist at NASA. Some of the first U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran targeted Iranian sensors and communications in a co-ordinated space and cyber operation.
But while the grant of up to $105 million marks Canada’s most significant investment in rocket companies to date, MacDonald said it will not be enough to get any rockets to orbit.
In the next five years, Canada should expect to spend at least $100 million annually on purchasing orbital launch services and budget for taking at least two companies to orbit to build a national space launch capability, he said.
“There’s still a ways to go, but this is an incredible start, and it’s very clear from the government’s announcements and budget allocations that they intend to be able to fund companies through to fruition,” MacDonald said.
Among the three companies, Matier said he believes Reaction Dynamics, an investor and client, is “much further along” in its technology and race to reach orbit, while MacDonald said all three teams will have their chance.
The government’s goal of reaching low Earth orbit by 2028 is an aggressive timeline, but exactly the one Canada needs to drive innovation and private investment, MacDonald said.
He warned that, like SpaceX blowing up its first few rockets before succeeding, it will likely take multiple attempts to achieve a successful orbital launch.
“Given that that is only two years away, a reasonable goal will be an orbital-level launch attempt that achieves a number of its objectives,” he said.
Elzein said Canada has the perfect recipe for success — the ambition, the boldness, and funding, finally getting there — now it’s just a matter of time.
“What the federal government has done is beyond what we hope for. Now it’s just up to us to deliver,” he said. “We are builders.”
