Big news for Canadian launch – Reaction Dynamics (RDX) and Galaxia Mission Systems have partnered on a multi-launch contract with orbital capabilities, marking a historic moment in our country’s access to space.
Especially during the last 30 years, Canada has been dependent on foreign providers – principally the U.S., but also in areas such as Europe – for rocket launches. Previously Canada had suborbital launches and sounding rocket launches from the Churchill Rocket Research Range (Fort Churchill) in Manitoba, among other sites.
The new RDX and Galaxia collaboration calls itself “the first commercial contract to fly Canadian satellites aboard Canadian launch vehicles,” marking a unique type of orbital launch contract to date, according to representatives. As for the likely launch site – RDX signed an MOU with Maritime Launch Services last year aiming for the first-ever homegrown orbital launch of any Canadian rocket, from Spaceport Nova Scotia in Canso.
What this new collaboration aims to do is to put Galaxia on several launches on the RDX Aurora-8 hybrid propulsion launch system, including the first-ever flight. The campaign will include Galaxia’s Lancer-1, the first mission of its future satellite constellation.
Aurora-8’s launch date was not disclosed in the release, but predecessor Aurora-1 is expected to perform its first suborbital launch in Australia later this year – and Aurora-8 has been in engine testing in recent months, as SpaceQ previously wrote about.
The defence market is expected to be a big customer for this vehicle, which is notable as Canada may be expanding its contributions to NORAD. This includes what Prime Minister Mark Carney recently termed “high-level” talks concerning a proposed U.S. missile-defence system, known as Golden Dome. Golden Dome represents many trillions of dollars of potential contracts for allied companies, assuming that it continues to receive broad support in Congress.
SpaceQ received exclusive commentary from both Galaxia and RDX emphasizing the importance, as they see it, of launching with sovereign capability at a time of wider economic uncertainty regarding our relationship with the United States. While opportunities appear to be ripe in defence and commercial applications, tariffs have thrown in uncertainties.
Anecdotal news reports have suggested that companies such as SpaceX may be charging extra on non-U.S. companies that are launching on their rockets, for example. Tariffs are also subject to frequent change, with a quite recent example being a doubling of the tax on steel and aluminum to 50 percent – at least, as of the time of this writing, as that could be altered rapidly.
In space exploration, when launch timelines typically are on the scale of months or years of planning, these rapid changes have presented difficulties for companies looking for predictability in financial planning. The two companies thus emphasized how their work is meant to provide a platform for Canadian technology to fly to orbit on homegrown launches.
“In an increasingly unpredictable geopolitical and trade environment, where access to foreign launch services can be impacted by shifting alliances, export restrictions, or tariffs, the ability to rely on a domestic solution is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity,” said Arad Gharagozli, CEO of Galaxia.
“Canadian launch capabilities, led by RDX, are essential to ensuring that our commercial and government clients have dependable and secure access to orbit,” he continued. “This is not only the first-ever Canadian-led orbital launch contract of its kind—it’s a critical step toward a resilient and self-reliant national space ecosystem, and we are proud to be co-leading this historic moment with our partner, Reaction Dynamics.”
Bachar Elzein, CEO and CTO of RDX, said that the recent environment shows that there is market demand for Aurora-8, given newer urgency for Canadian sovereign launch capability.
“For Reaction Dynamics, this contract marks the official launch of its commercial operations, affirming the market demand for Aurora-8 and positioning the company as a pivotal force in the expanding commercial space launch sector. It also reinforces a long-standing collaboration with Galaxia and plays a key role in enhancing Canada’s sovereign space launch capacity,” he said.