21st March 2017 Canada to get its first spaceport in 2020 Maritime Launch Services, a Canadian space transport services company founded last year, has announced that it will establish a launch site in Nova Scotia by 2020. This will be Canada's first spaceport, with up to eight launches occurring each year from 2022 onwards.
Maritime Launch Services (MLS), established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a joint venture of three U.S. firms managed by a group of aerospace experts with decades of combined experience in the space industry, including time spent working at NASA. With global demand for space launch services set to grow rapidly in the coming years, MLS sees potential for Canada to enter the race. Following a study of candidate sites across North America, the company has now chosen a site for operations in the Guysborough Municipality near Canso and Hazel Hill in Nova Scotia, Canada. An exhaustive review was carried out during the last year, which assessed 14 potential locations – evaluating criteria such as access to polar/Sun synchronous orbit, very low population density, proximity to multimodal transportation, and level of interest from the community, province and government. In cooperation with Ukrainian firms Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, MLS aims to develop a commercial launch complex for the Cyclone 4M orbital launch vehicle, pictured above. This will bring the long established and mature space technology of Ukraine to Canada, and it is hoped will form a highly competitive launch services company. The new facility will begin construction in 2018, with first launches planned for 2020. If all goes according to plan, up to eight rockets could be launched annually from 2022 onwards. MLS is seeking a 20-year lease for the site from the Canadian government. The US$110m facility will include a launch pad and a processing building, as well as a control centre positioned three kilometres away. The rockets will have two launch options. Option 1 is a Sun-synchronous orbit launch between 600-800 km, for smaller satellites with a payload of up to 3350 kg for US$45 million. Option 2 is a Low Earth Orbit launch, below 600 km in altitude that will allow a payload up to 5000 kg, also for US$45 million. Providers of the launch vehicle, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, have been in operation for 62 years and launched 875 rockets. "While we have a number of challenges ahead to work through the regulatory processes, approvals and site planning, we are optimistic that we can break ground on the launch complex within a year and meet market demands with our first launch in 2020," said John Isella, CEO of MLS. "The timing is perfect for this venture. Ukraine's independent space industry, and the solid market for these launch services all add to our confidence in this program. The Cyclone 4M rocket will become the standard of the medium-class space launch industry." "We are pleased that Maritime Launch Services has chosen to invest in our community and we look forward to continued dialogue," said Vernon Pitts, Warden of the Municipality of Guysborough. "Since we were first introduced to this development a few months ago, we have been impressed with the proponents' approach and we will continue to work collaboratively with MLS as the project evolves. It's going to be a great tourist draw."
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