Nova Scotia community chosen as launch site for space rockets

An isolated community on Nova Scotia’s eastern coast could soon be home to the only commercial spaceport in Canada.

Maritime Launch Services Ltd. announced Tuesday that it has committed to establishing a launch complex near Canso and Hazel Hill.

The Halifax-based company, which is a joint venture of three U.S.-based firms, said it chose the location in Guysborough Municipality after an assessment of 14 potential locations across North America.

Steve Matier, head of spaceport development, said the company met with members of the community last month and many joked about the Canso area as a location.

“They described Canso as not at the end of the earth, but you could see it from there,” said Matier in a telephone interview from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“That’s what you are really looking for. You are looking for a place that has a good buffer from people and an access to a trajectory so that you have a client base that is interested in putting satellites into orbit.”

Matier said the facility would launch medium sized (3,350 kilogram) rockets on a due south trajectory. The cost of each launch is targeted at US$45 million.

Once completed, the site would be used to launch the Ukrainian-built Cyclone 4M rocket into space. The company said the Ukrainian provider of the rocket, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, has been in operation for 62 years and has built and launched more than 400 spacecraft.

CEO John Isella said the project is solely a commercial venture and no government funding has been requested.

He said it will cost upwards of $226 million to get the company to the first launch.

“We are leveraging the tremendous heritage that exists in Ukraine in the rocket industry,” Isella said.