Space tech CEOs say sovereign launch capabilities could help Canada lead in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Canadian rocket builders want Canada to stop hitching rides to space at the discretion of foreign providers, and the federal government has put a significant sum towards changing that.<\/p>\n
At the Canadian Space Launch Conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, the founders of three startups\u2014event organizer NordSpace<\/a>, Canada Rocket Company<\/a>, and Reaction Dynamics<\/a>\u2014unpacked what sovereign space launch capabilities truly mean, why we need them, and where they think Canada has an opportunity to lead globally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot import something, slap a flag on it, and call it Canadian.\u201d<\/p>\n Bachar Elzein, These days, SpaceX dominates the market for sending large payloads to space, while competition among small-lift providers is fierce. On stage, Canada Rocket Company co-founder and CEO Hugh Kolias argued that a gap has emerged for medium-lift launch vehicles, where few companies have been building rockets because \u201ceveryone thought that it was oversupplied.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe market was sold,\u201d fellow panellist Bachar Elzein, founder, CEO, and CTO of Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s Reaction Dynamics, chimed in. \u201cWe\u2019ve heard that a million times.\u201d<\/p>\n Medium-lift capabilities are typically defined as launch vehicles that can deliver 2,000 to 20,000 kg\u2014or 4,400 to 44,100 pounds\u2014to low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n With demand expected to grow over the coming years, Kolias argued, \u201cWe have a real opportunity to capture a significant share of medium-lift capability on a global basis.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of that opportunity stems from erratic behaviour by the US under President Donald Trump, which has made Canada a more attractive and dependable partner and spurred the country to invest heavily in sovereign tech.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: Feds commit nearly $225 million to advance Canada\u2019s sovereign space launch capabilities<\/a><\/p>\n The Government of Canada recently committed nearly $225 million CAD<\/a> to advancing Canada\u2019s sovereign space launch capabilities, including $8.3 million grants each to Canada Rocket Company, NordSpace, Reaction Dynamics.<\/p>\n Fellow panellist, NordSpace founder and CEO Rahul Goel, defined sovereign space launch as the ability to launch Canadian payloads from Canadian soil with Canadian-made rockets. While the rockets themselves are the most important part, relying on another country or foreign firm to provide any of those components or make decisions about them would be a \u201chouse of cards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot import something, slap a flag on it, and call it Canadian,\u201d Elzein said. He said sovereignty would mean rockets that are designed, manufactured, launched, and controlled in Canada, without any permission required from outside the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we like to say is it starts with sovereignty and then the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Kolias said that continued government support for sovereign space launch capabilities would go a long way towards helping Canada become a leader in the broader medium-lift market. \u201cWhat we like to say is it starts with sovereignty and then the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Establishing such capabilities in-house could bring broader economic benefits, given the projected growth<\/a> of the space economy, Kolias argued. \u201cThis is our moment to not repeat history,\u201d he added, citing the Government of Canada\u2019s 1959 decision<\/a> to scrap the fabled Avro Arrow<\/a> as a mistake not worth recreating.<\/p>\n That marked a fitting comparison, as the event was held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum against a backdrop that included key components of the Avro Arrow, the original Canadarm, and other historic air and space vehicles and technologies.<\/p>\n For his part, Elzein noted that building rockets is hard, otherwise more companies would be doing it. He also acknowledged that executing on that vision will take a lot of attempts\u2014probably more than he and his peers would like.<\/p>\n With the technical and financial margins associated with sending rockets to space already so thin, Goel expressed hope that policymakers would take steps to ensure that Canada makes launch \u201cfavourable, not just possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Feature image courtesy Josh Scott for BetaKit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Space tech CEOs say sovereign launch capabilities could help Canada lead in low Earth orbit.
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Reaction Dynamics<\/p>\n