Hybrid rocket engine and launch vehicle manufacturer Reaction Dynamics hosted one of its big backers last week.
The Canadian Space Agency, which has awarded the Quebec startup two Space Technology Development Program (SDTP) contributions since 2020, was on site Aug. 24 to see what the money has brought them so far.
A reception after the tour included the local mayor, MP Sherry Romanado, Maritime Launch Systems CEO Steve Matier (more on that in a moment), and representatives from CRIAQ, Launch Canada and Investissement Québec.
“It’s a great demonstration of their commitment and support,” CEO Bachar Elzein told SpaceQ in a brief e-mail interview, but said this is far from the first time the CSA was hosted, he added. The agency tends to stop by the facility a few times a year to assess progress, he said.
Reaction Dynamics is partway through developing its hybrid rocket engine, which aims to use a combination of liquid and solid fuel propulsion and to generate far less carbon dioxide than the competition.
Their big public debut will come perhaps this fall, or sometime in 2023, when the company aims to perform their inaugural launch. That launch may be from Maritime Launch Services’ Spaceport Nova Scotia in Canso. The facility just announced its approval for construction this week and is framing this launch as part of their larger push to be carbon neutral.
Should that first suborbital launch go to plan, MLS and Reaction Dynamics have signed a letter of intent for future small launch services and eventual medium-launch opportunities to low Earth orbit.
The inaugural launch of Reaction Dynamics’ Aurora rocket will be a systems and hardware test ahead of a possible orbital opportunity in 2024, assuming all permits go through and the ambitious technology development continues.
Elzein has said repeatedly that his goal in offering another rocket into an already crowded market is to offer a more affordable alternative to SpaceX, that California giant that sends dozens of satellites into space at once. Aurora has a more modest payload limit of 200 kg, but that’s by design.
Yes, the Falcon 9 from SpaceX is much larger than Aurora; that said the Quebec alternative might be able to pivot better to customer schedules or budgets. Additionally, Reaction Dynamics frames itself as a company better able to serve the microsatellite market, which is growing rapidly as computer electronics continue to miniaturize and get adapted for the radiation, cold and other stresses of spaceflight.
As a Quebec company, Reaction Dynamics finds itself embedded in a large community of space startups from which it might be able to pull business opportunities. While Elzein didn’t point to any forthcoming news about partnerships, possible big players in the Quebec business include GHGSat and its fleet of greenhouse gas-seeking satellites, MDA’s robotics and satellite business lines, and NorthStar Earth and Space that is creating a constellation of satellites in a quick-growing market.
Nova Scotia, so to speak, is just down the road from Quebec and that means these companies may have a local platform to launch their hardware in the coming decade. More launch opportunities may mean more business growth, along with the usual ecosystem of opportunities through suppliers, contractors and the university and government networks that support them.
Based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Reaction Dynamics employs about 40 people and has at least one active job posting for a mechanical engineering technician. It appears there will be plenty of work to go around if the company looks globally; a 2021 report from Allied Market Research suggests the global carrier rocket industry will be $25.4 billion in 2030, almost tripling the $9.2 billion estimate from 2020.
Note: We’ve updated out story to reflect that the company has about 40 employees as opposed to 20. As well, the company’s first launch date and location is still to be announced.