The aerospace startup's previous attempts have been thwarted by weather conditions and faulty safety systems.
Aerospace startup NordSpace has a new opportunity to attempt Canada's first commercial rocket launch after… failed attempt at the end of August.
The new launch window will open on September 20 and will run until September 27, NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told BetaKit. The company will have two time blocks per day: one from 6:30 am to 12:00 pm Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) and another from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm ADT.
Twelve members of the NordSpace team, based in Markham, Ontario, will fly to the launch pad at the Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) near St. Lawrence, North Carolina, this weekend.
The launch will be the first commercial launch of a liquid-propellant rocket in Canadian history.
News of the new launch window follows a series of cleared attempts made during the week of August 25 that ended forced delay just 58 seconds before the start. Unfavorable weather conditions (including Hurricane Erin) and a faulty rocket ignition safety system forced the company to delay the launch just before its expiration date.
Goel said failures were “common” in rocket launch attempts, attributing them to differences in the operating and testing environments.
“It went very well, all things considered,” he said of the first attempts. “We're trying to improve our process… so we can get it up and running as quickly as possible.”
The aerospace startup hopes to conduct the first suborbital flight of its Taiga rocket, which stands about 17 feet tall. NordSpace said the launch will be 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 more than a year, as NordSpace received approval from government agencies such as Transport Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture. Goel said it was “really encouraging” to feel support for the launch from governments at the provincial and federal levels.
Founded by Goel in 2022, NordSpace aims to develop launch vehicles, spaceports and satellites entirely in Canada. Part of the company's mission is to develop Canadian space mission capabilities, including satellites and robotics to orbit the Earth and the Moon. NordSpace argues that the development of this technology will bring Canada back into the space race, contributing to its security and sovereignty. NordSpace was presented in BetaKit The most ambitious for its mission to facilitate Canada's first commercial launch into space. Montreal-based Reaction Dynamics also plans to launch a rocket into orbit from a planned spaceport in Nova Scotia in 2028.
