Canadian “full spectrum” launch startup NordSpace announced that it is organizing an inaugural Canadian Space Launch Conference for April 2025, bringing together stakeholders across government and industry to address the question of how to develop domestic space launch capabilities.
“Full spectrum” launch company
NordSpace is a Canadian startup with the goal of creating a Canadian-made orbital launch vehicle, ensuring the country is less reliant on American launch companies. Several Canadian companies are also tackling this issue; what makes NordSpace different, according to Goel, is their aspiration towards creating a “full spectrum” integrated launch solution: one where they can provide the launches, the payloads, and even the spaceport.
Goel founded the company in 2022, saying that he had both been “inspired since childhood by the many decades of leadership Canada has delivered in space” and yet was concerned with Canada accepting “being relegated to a participatory role” in other countries’ space programs. (Particularly the United States.)
Noting that “Canada is the only G7 and Five Eyes nation that has not participated in orbital launch,” Goel expressed deep concern about this kind of relegation. It should be noted that the UK, a G7 country, currently doesn’t have orbital launch capability, though they are working on it. They did however launch the Black Arrow rocket in 1971 which placed the Prospero satellite in orbit. That launch occurred from Australia. The other European G7 countries, France, Germany, and Italy work together through Arianespace. The final two G7 countries, the U.S. and Japan, have their own launch vehicles.
Goel said that space is “a critical domain like the land, sea and air which Canada must have basic domestic access to.” And while Canada has enjoyed a privileged position with regard to access to launch capabilities in the United States, Goel expressed concern that “there is no telling which elements of our trade or sovereignty [might be] simply deprioritized by international partners,” pointing to the potential tariffs between the United States and Canada as an example.
In that light, Goel believes that “investing in the most basic small-lift capability to access space could not be more important than it is today” for a country like Canada, and that developing those capabilities is “of national and strategic importance.”
NordSpace, to Goel, is a potential solution for the problem. Goel said that sovereign launch must have three components: “Canadian-built payloads, launching on a Canadian rocket, from a Canadian spaceport,” and that anything less is “not a true sovereign capability.” The first step in developing that capability, for Goel, is developing a Canadian-made small-lift launcher, and that’s what NordSpace is focused on at the moment.
Goel added that the idea is to be “much more like Rocket Lab than Astra,” where they use proven technologies and straightforward solutions wherever possible to gain a first mover advantage, then pairing position with vertical integration to offer a compelling alternative to other launch providers.
NordSpace’s Small-lift Tundra rocket
NordSpace’s main orbital launch vehicle is called the “Tundra.” It will, according to Goel, be a multiple-stage launcher capable of taking up to 350 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO), eventually scaling up to 500 kg to LEO with later Tundra models. It “heavily leverages metal additive manufacturing,” according to Goel.
Goel said that “we enjoy naming our hardware with Canadian themes in mind,” and so their launchers are named after Canadian geological zones. Their other launch vehicles are named “Taiga” and “Boreal”; Taiga is a sub-orbital launch vehicle while Boreal will be used for “supersonic and hypersonic research applications,” Goel said, adding that “we can’t share too much right now,” but will be announcing a program related to these applications soon.
In line with that naming scheme, the engines for NordSpace’s launchers are named after CSA Astronauts: “Hadfield” and “Garneau.” The first-stage Hadfield engine used in the Tundra and Taiga is the focus of development at NordSpace, with the Tundra’s second-stage Garneau coming later.
The Hadfield is a liquid Kerosene/liquid Oxygen engine, designed to have up to 100kn of thrust. It is “100% additively manufactured in house” and “100% designed in Canada” according to Goel. The Garneau “use[s] the same propellants and share a lot of design characteristics overall,” Goel also said, but is vacuum-optimized rather than optimized for sea level like the Hadfield, with some other distinctions that Goel couldn’t share yet.
Notably, NordSpace is focused on using environmentally sustainable fuel; the kerosene for the engine is to be “derived from renewable resources such as waste oils, agricultural residues, algae, or even captured CO₂ combined with green hydrogen,” according to Goel, and could “reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuel” depending on feedstock and production methods.
Initial Hadfield testing was concluded in February, with the focus shifting to integration of the Hadfield into the Taiga launcher with an aim of being the first Canadian launch organization to reach the 100km Karman line. Goel said the goal is to launch Taiga in 2025.
Development of the Tundra launcher is going smoothly, Goel added, saying that “we are about to bring our Darkhorse engine test cell online in a few weeks at our test site, which is specifically designed to test and qualify our orbital scale engines and turbo pump systems that will be the, heart and soul of Tundra.”
Goel said that the first launch of Tundra is likely to be in 2027, though it will not carry a commercial payload.
Spaceport Canada
Goel said that payloads are part of their future game plan, but “our focus right now is on the launch vehicle,” and Canada already has a proven track record for building satellites from organizations like MDA Space and the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. Leaving aside the question of Canadian – made payload – there are already several companies that do that — the other part of Goel’s “full spectrum” vision is a Canadian-owned and Canadian-operated spaceport. NordSpace is actively working on solving that problem with their Spaceport Canada, which will serve as a home for the Tundra and other small- and medium-lift launches.
Of course, Goel is not alone in recognizing this issue and this opportunity; Maritime Launch Services (MLS) and their still-in-development Spaceport Nova Scotia will be familiar to many SpaceQ readers and to anybody familiar with the Canadian space scene. So why pursue an independent Spaceport Canada?
Goel said that he is “excited about the work MLS is doing” and that he wishes them “the absolute best.” NordSpace was initially interested in exploring the prospect of using MLS’ site as its main launch site. But, he said, NordSpace’s research revealed that “it would be significantly more economical and efficient to build our own launch site, allowing us to internalize gains and diversify our business at the same time”.
While NordSpace supports MLS, Goel said that the company believes that “the MLS business/operational model and state of the spaceport were not what aligned with our plans,” and that it was “too significant a business risk at this stage for NordSpace to pursue MLS as a primary option.”
In particular, Goel said that there were concerns about developing and preserving a relationship with regulators and government agencies, like Transport Canada, instead of “outsourcing that critical component” to MLS and SpacePort Nova Scotia. This is especially important considering that “Canada is trending towards less, not more infrastructure for space applications,” he said, pointing to the closure of the David Florida Laboratory earlier this year.
Goel won’t reveal publicly yet where their planned site is, but he did say that the site is “located on the east coast of Canada,” though not in Nova Scotia. The site will offer a wide range of launch inclinations —approximately 45 to 95 degrees — and will have at least two launch pads. While the plan is to eventually support medium-lift vehicles, the priority is to prepare it for launches of the Tundra and other small-lift vehicles.
Goel said that the site is comparatively remote: that “the closest settlement is about 5 km away from our primary launch site,” but that they have still been “working closely with nearby communities and municipalities,” as well as provincial and federal agencies like Transport Canada, to ensure that Spaceport Canada gets built.
He also suggested that the 2027 Tundra launch at the very least would be happening at this still-undisclosed Eastern Canada site, and possibly next year’s Taiga launch as well.
Goel emphasized that the primary goal is sovereign launch, and that it is absolutely necessary for Canada to pursue this capability. “With the criticality of space as an essential domain for Canadian security, sovereignty, and economy, not having our own spaceports is equivalent to not having a single airport in Canada.”
More than that, it is an issue with developing Canadian talent and Canadian space startups. The lack of Canadian launch capacity encourages companies to move south — Goel said he’d already been approached to do so — and “discourages new companies from forming” to begin with. Goel noted that getting (and keeping) talent was an issue that NordSpace itself was dealing with; even though Canada is “teeming with highly talented and motivated engineers and scientists,” those same talented people are “leaving Canada in droves.”
Goel said this was part of a “mass exodus of capital and talent from Canada, and immediate steps need to be taken to reverse the tide.”
Inaugural Canadian Launch Conference
One of these steps in stopping this “exodus” is, Goel believes, bringing together Canadian launch stakeholders at events like the Canadian Space Launch Conference (CSLC). The CSLC is intended to bring together “key stakeholders spanning industry, government, academia, not-for-profit and beyond”, all meeting to address the issue of developing domestic launch capabilities in Canada.
Goel sees it as “an opportunity to help identify and address both barriers and opportunities towards making sovereign launch a reality,” as well as getting status updates from key stakeholders.
Key speakers at CSLC include Brian Gallant, CEO of Space Canada; Brig. General Chris Horner, Commander of the 3 Canadian Space Division; Natasha Gagnon, President of the Ontario Aerospace Council; Space Concordia’s Oleg Khalimonov, Launch Canada Founder Adam Trumpour, among others. Confirmed attendees include people from various parts of the federal government, and Goel is hoping for attendees from other launch companies as well.
Trumpour is a particularly notable speaker to Goel. SpaceQ readers will be familiar with Launch Canada’s student rocketry challenge and how it’s grown over the last few years. Goel said that Canadian rocketry students have “accomplished incredible feats,” and acknowledged Trumpour as having a lot to do with that. He will be hosting a panel with Khalimonov focused on student rocketry, and Goel said that “any profits generated by the conference are going to be donated to student rocket initiatives, and matched 1:1 by NordSpace.”
He also said that “a large number of highly accomplished student rocket teams [will be] on display and in attendance.”
Goel hopes that the conference will bring down the “silos” around so many actors in the Canadian space sector, as NordSpace’s position is that “it is impossible for Canada to successfully build a domestic launch industry without a full ‘Team Canada’ approach,” one that has “all the stakeholders in clear and constant communication” on issues like policy, technology, regulation, and foreign relations.
Organizing a conference is a lot of work, Goel granted, and he did acknowledge that the CSLC is “a significant financial and time commitment on our part.” Even so, he said, “open and clear communication regarding updates, challenges, opportunities and more need to be voiced.”
“Someone had to take the lead, so why not us?”
The Canadian Space Launch Conference will be happening this April 29, at the Canada Aviation & Space Museum in Ottawa.