Maritime Launch Services

Last updated

Maritime Launch Services
Company type Public
Industry Aerospace
Founded2016;9 years ago (2016)
Headquarters
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Key people
Steve Matier
(President and Spaceport Development)
ProductsLaunch service
Services Orbital rocket launch
Website www.maritimelaunch.com

Maritime Launch Services (MLS) is a Canadian space transport services company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Originally, MLS was to rely on Ukrainian-built Cyclone-4M rockets by Pivdenne Design Office to launch polar and Sun-synchronous orbit from Canso, Nova Scotia. However, that plan fell apart with the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2025, the company formally became partners with the Canadian company Rocket Dynamics and is preparing to launch that company's Aurora-8 orbital launch vehicle in about 2028. MLS is a joint venture of three U.S.-based firms. [1]

Contents

Launch site

On 14 March 2017, MLS selected Canso, Nova Scotia as its launch site. MLS applied to lease 15 hectares of land outside the town from the provincial Department of Natural Resources. [2] The launch site is approximately 3.5 km south of Canso, with the Vehicle Processing Facility located approximately 2 km south-west of Canso. [3]

The $110 million rocket spaceport was originally planned to launch commercial satellites into space with the Ukrainian medium-lift Cyclon-4M launch vehicle, with a goal for up to eight launches annually. [4] After further delays, MLS received final approval for construction in August 2022 and began work in September 2022. [5]

MLS President and CEO Stephen Matier claimed that MLS was aiming to conduct a suborbital launch NET Q2 2023, before further developing the site to accommodate Cyclone-4M. [6] The site is slated to include a 10 to 15 metre-tall control centre and rocket assembly facility, with a launch pad positioned 2.4 kilometres away, linked by a custom rail system for rocket transportation. [7] It will be the only operational spaceport in Canada, after the abandonment of the Churchill Rocket Research Range in the 1990s, and the first commercial spaceport for orbital launches in the country. [7] It was estimated that construction of the spaceport would take three or four years to complete, but the first pad was not ready until 2024. [2]

Service

Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, MLS originally had planned to launch eight Cyclone-4M rockets annually. The launch site has two southward launch orbital inclination options:

Option 1 is a Sun-synchronous orbit launch between 600–800 km in altitude, for smaller satellites, with a payload up to 3350 kg for $45 million USD.
Option 2 is an equatorial low-Earth orbit launch, below 600 km in altitude, that will allow a payload up to 5000 kg also for $45 million USD. [8]

Rockets

Cyclone-4M

MLS originally planned to utilize the Ukrainian-built Cyclone-4M medium-lift launch vehicle designed by Pivdenne Design Office. [9] It was expected to use a first-stage derived from the Soviet-era Zenit launch vehicle. It was to be powered by four Ukrainian-built RD-870 kerosene/LOX engines. These engines were originally designed for the vacuum of space on a second-stage for Soviet-era rockets. [10] [11] The upper stage stack was developed from the original hypergolic Cyclone 4 rocket. The first launch of the Cyclone-4M was originally expected to take place at Canso in 2025. [12] However, because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the uncertainty the prolonged war caused, MLS terminated the agreement to launch Cyclone from Spaceport Nova Scotia in third quarter 2024. [13]

Aurora-8

During the summer of 2025, Maritime Launch Services reached an agreement with the Quebec-based firm Reaction Dynamics (RDX) to launch that company's Aurora-8 small-class orbital launch vehicle from Spaceport Nova Scotia no earlier than 2028. [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ruskin, Brett; Williams, Cassie (14 March 2017). "T-minus 1 year until rocket launch site construction starts in Nova Scotia". CBC News . Halifax, Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 Beswick, Aaron (18 January 2020). "Proposed spaceport gathers steam, but questions linger". The Chronicle Herald . Halifax, Nova Scotia: SaltWire Network. ISSN   0839-4008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "Maritime Launch Services" (PDF). 1 November 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Commercial Space Launch Complex Site Selection Completed" (PDF). maritimelaunch.com. 14 April 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. ↑ Barker, Nathan; Gebhardt, Chris (9 September 2022). "Maritime Launch Services breaks ground on Canada's first orbital launch site". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  6. ↑ Doucette, Keith (14 March 2017). "Small Nova Scotia community chosen as launch site for space rockets". Global News . Vancouver, British Columbia: Corus Entertainment Inc. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 3 April 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 Ruskin, Brett (11 April 2017). "It is rocket science: New details revealed about proposed space port in Nova Scotia". CBC News. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Boucher, Marc (14 March 2017). "Exclusive: Maritime Launch Services Selects Nova Scotia Site for Spaceport Over 13 Other Locations". SpaceQ. London, Ontario: SpaceQ Media Inc. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  9. ↑ MLS Staff (2019). "Cyclone 4M". Maritime Launch Services. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  10. ↑ Zak, Anatoly (16 July 2020). "RD-870 could become Ukraine's first booster engine". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  11. ↑ MLS Staff (15 May 2019). Cyclone-4M SLS Abbreviated User's Guide, Version 2 (PDF). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Maritime Launch Services. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  12. ↑ Kolyvanova, Marina; McLean, Sarah (8 December 2022). "Precious Payload Partners With Maritime Launch" (Press release). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Maritime Launch Services. Business Wire. Archived from the original on 28 June 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  13. ↑ Grant, Taryn (2 August 2024). "Canada strikes deal to use U.S. space tech, clearing way for rocket launch pad in N.S." CBC News. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  14. ↑ Boucher, Marc (12 August 2025). "RDX takes a stake in Maritime Launch Services and will launch from Spaceport Nova Scotia". SpaceQ. Calgary: SpaceQ Media Inc. Archived from the original on 13 August 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.

45°18′13″N60°58′58″W / 45.303559°N 60.982891°W / 45.303559; -60.982891

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