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A rocket launch facility under development on the East Coast could be valuable to the U. S. and spell trouble for Canada by convincing Americans it is doing its part on the security front, according to government officials.
An internal Department of National Defense briefing on maritime liberation also highlighted that the new capability will help reduce Canada’s dependence on other countries to liberate their own spacecraft.
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Maritime Launch Services, a Canadian company founded in 2016 and based in Nova Scotia, is building the country’s first spaceport. The company conducted its first suborbital launch on July 7, 2023 and plans its first orbital launch in 2026 from its location near Canso, Nova Scotia.
The DND memo, ready in January 2024, highlighted that Canada is one of the only space-capable nations without a sovereign release capability. It has relied on other countries, including Russia in the past, to release spacecraft.
The allocation of Maritime Launch Services can be a definite advantage for Canada, according to the document prepared for Defense Minister Bill Blair through then-Deputy Minister Bill Matthews.
Such a capability would eliminate Canada’s dependence on other countries, give it the flexibility to launch its own satellites when necessary, and potentially free up costs.
“It would also contribute to the broader defence and security goals across North America, and would further raise Canada’s standing in the eyes of allies, in particular the US, who has been critical of Canada’s insufficient investments in defence,” noted the document, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen using the Access to Information Act. “Canada adding a launch capability on the east coast of North America will allow access to a range of key orbits of interest to the U.S. and would add to Canada’s relevance and credibility in the international space community by also offering additional launch options to other allies and partners.”
But, despite this very positive report, the DND and Canadian forces are not committing to the Maritime Launch Services (MLS) initiative.
“The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces have not envisaged any investment for maritime liberation and have not committed to carrying out their duties in the future,” DND spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an email.
No additional comments were provided.
Maritime Launch Services did not respond to a request for comment.
The company announced in September that it was working with another company to install a new ground station at its spaceport, which will be operational this year.
The Canadian government provided a $120,000 repayable contribution to Maritime Launch Services to prepare for the installation of specialized tracking and communications equipment at its spaceport.
Access to space is becoming more difficult because of a lack of launch facilities, according to various studies.
A 2023 study by Deloitte consultants noted the space launch infrastructure in the U.S. is running out of capacity as public and private sector demand for access to space is accelerating faster than ever before.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 5 that U. S. government officials and industry executives were concerned that the backed-up release sites would prevent payloads from reaching space in a timely manner. In 2024, the United States released 14 and five orbitals, five times more than in 2017, the newspaper notes. SpaceX, an advertising company run by Elon Musk, has made 134 launches in 2024.
China has also expanded its release capabilities, opening the first facility last year to complement government-run spaceports. It made its first launch in December, according to Chinese state media.
Some members of the Canadian military and government have long advocated for the country to expand its own launch capabilities of a rocket system.
In 2011, the Ottawa Citizen reported that the government claimed that Canada had the technological capacity to build its own rocket to launch small satellites.
Additionally, in a 2009 information package produced through the Chief of Military Forces Development, the progression of a launch vehicle for small satellites is noted as a key domain of interest for long-term studies and progression work. of Do Not Disturb.
But little progress has been made, and Canada remains dependent on allies and abroad for its rockets and launch capabilities.
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