SpaceQ has learned that Maritime Launch Services will announce tomorrow that it has secured $10.5 million in financing led by Power One Capital Markets Limited and Primary Capital Inc. enabling construction to begin for a Canadian spaceport in Nova Scotia in what would be Canada’s first orbital launch facility.
Canadian spaceport jobs and ground breaking
Steve Matier, CEO of Maritime Launch Services (MLS) told SpaceQ in an interview the funding will put the spaceport on track for an early fall ground breaking.
Between now and then Matier says the company has to complete the conditions set forth by the Nova Scotia government in its June 2019 environmental assessment approval. Once these conditions are complete and approved, Matier said they will proceed with ground breaking.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted MLS’s ability to complete some of the environmental assessment conditions and the Nova Scotia government had earlier this year provided a six month extension. Matier is confident they can meet the conditions before the end of the summer.
Matier also told SpaceQ that the funding will allow the company to immediately begin posting job notices for key staff and additionally there will be jobs available in construction and other areas in the rural Guysborough Municipality this fall.
In its earlier presentations MLS had stated there were going to be direct jobs in engineering, integration and manufacturing, launch and test operations, and administration. In total the company has been planning on hiring around 85 people in the near term and up to 250 within four years.
For that number of jobs to be available though, the company will need to secure more funding as it goes forward. It’s possible the company could announce a second round of funding this fall.
A small payload launch vehicle launch in 2022?
According to MLS “the proceeds of this financing will enable MLS to achieve first flight heritage in 2022 of a small class launcher and mature the site and the Cyclone 4M medium class launch vehicle for launch in 2023.”
While Matier won’t say what company would be the first “small class launcher” to potentially use the spaceport in 2022, Matier had previously acknowledged discussions with FireFly Aerospace. FireFly is currently preparing for the maiden flight of its Alpha small payload launch vehicle which is scheduled for a June launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
A small payload launch vehicle wouldn’t need the same type of extensive infrastructure required for a medium or large class launch vehicle. For that reason, MLS told SpaceQ they could dedicate a small portion of the proposed spaceport to this endeavour and that it could be ready by next year. This area would in essence be a separate launch pad from the primary launch pad which is dedicated for a medium class launch vehicle.
The image below illustrates the minimal infrastructure used by Astra Space during its launch at the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska. It’s also possible that Astra might one day be an MLS customer. They and other possible tenants of the proposed Nova Scotia spaceport are listed in our Canadian Spaceport Report. That report includes Canadian launch vehicle and launch services companies C6 Launch and Reaction Dynamics, two of the companies vying to build Canada’s first orbital launch vehicle.
Preparing for the Cyclone 4m medium class launch vehicle
Beyond getting the spaceport operational for a small class launch vehicle in 2022, MLS is looking at ramping up construction efforts to that in the latter half of 2023 the first launch of the Ukrainian Cyclone 4M medium class launch vehicle takes place.
The Ukraine rocket, which would be the anchor tenant of the spaceport, has yet to fly. It was designed by Yuzhnoye and is being built Yuzhmash, its sister company. While MLS has struggled to get the spaceport moving forward, the Ukrainian companies haven’t been idle with respect to the Cyclone 4M. They’ve successfully completed engine tests and have just been waiting on MLS before ramping up production.
While the Cyclone 4M is a new rocket, its engine are built on a proven 65 years of heritage. They currently supply propulsion systems to Arianespace and Northrop Grumman. On April 30th, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash announced a deal with Italian AVIO S.p.A. to supply them with 10 more engines for the Arianespace Vega launch vehicle.
MLS says the Cyclone 4M would eventually launch between 8-10 times a year.