Reaction Dynamics reveals new Longueuil facility and signs MOU with South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean

LONGUEUIL, QC – After a full day of presentations at the Space Canada Horizons 2026 conference, many attendees took a short drive from the Canadian Space Agency to Reaction Dynamics’ newly opened facility nearby. This reception was held for two reasons: to show off their new home in Longueuil and to publicly sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean.

The MOU

Hanwha Ocean is one of two remaining bidders for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. Since 2021, the Royal Canadian Navy has been looking to procure up to 12 submarines to replace aging vessels. The other bidder is Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).

“Hanwha Ocean is doing everything they can to position themselves to be well-received by the Canadian government and the Canadian people,” says Jesse Mikelberg, Director of Business Technology and Strategy of Reaction Dynamics.

After opening speeches, Vice Admiral Steve SK Jeong (ret.) (Senior Executive Vice President, Hanwha Ocean) and Bachar Elzein (Founder and CEO, Reaction Dynamics) sat down and signed the agreement.

Behind them? A one-third mockup of Reaction Dynamics’ Aurora rocket.

Mikelberg describes the agreement: “Our MOU basically summarizes Hanwha Ocean’s interest in exploring strategic investment into Reaction Dynamics, supporting the growth of the Canadian launch sector across light responsive and medium lift. They see an opportunity with us.”

The day before this MOU was signed, TKMS announced they would be working with Isar Aerospace, a German aerospace company currently developing Spectrum, a two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket. Their cooperation aims to create a sovereign Canadian space launch capability. Mikelberg commented on this announcement: “The other bidder [TKMS] is coming from Germany with their own rocket. Whereas Hanwha has seen value in coming from Korea to Canada, but working with a Canadian provider.”

The facility

The MOU was signed in Reaction Dynamics’ new headquarters in Longueuil. The facility borders the formerly named Saint-Hubert Airport, now the Montréal Metropolitan Airport. After parking and walking up to Reaction Dynamics’ facility, you are mere yards away from parked aircraft and can hear and feel planes taking off on the nearby runway.

The facility is 2.5 times bigger than their old factory and has doubled the size of their office. “We’re growing fast. We’re currently 55 employees. Every week we’re hiring about two [people]. So in a month’s time we’ll be about 60,” says Mikelberg. “So this factory, once we’ve installed all of our equipment and our machinery, it will essentially allow us to build and eventually deploy our orbital responsive launch platform.”

Reaction Dynamics is hoping to do a suborbital test launch within the next six months from the Koonibba Test Range in central Australia. In 2028, they’re aiming for an orbital launch in Canso, Nova Scotia. But their new location has an interesting opportunity that Mikelberg says they are investigating: “We’re bordering the Metropolitan airport. We’re currently looking at the feasibility of once we build our orbiting launch platform, being able to actually push it out the back, onto the tarmac, into a standard shipping container onto an Air Force plane.” From there, their rocket could be shipped anywhere in Canada or around the world, including places with no fixed launch infrastructure.

This containerized launch architecture aligns with the Department of National Defence’s $105-million “Launch the North” IDEaS challenge. The initiative, which recently awarded Reaction Dynamics an $8.3-million Phase 1 contract, specifically calls for responsive light-lift systems capable of deploying payloads into orbit within 96 hours of receiving formal notice.