Canada's first commercial rocket soon to launch after weather, technical delays
Commercial space launches are getting "Screeched-In" in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland.
Southeastern Newfoundland is shown here from the MODIS camera on board NASA's Terra satellite, from June 19, 2002. A small yellow circle highlights the area of St Lawrence, where NordSpace's first commercial rocket launch test is taking place. (Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC)
NordSpace's Canadian-made Taiga rocket is about to make its first test launch, opening up a new realm of possibilities for Canada's role in space exploration.
After days of weather delays due to the passing of Hurricane Erin in the Atlantic, Canadian aerospace company NordSpace is now ready to perform the first test launch of their new 3D-printed Taiga rocket. Liftoff was originally scheduled for Monday, August 24, 2025, from the company's Atlantic Spaceport Complex, near St. Lawrence, Nfld, along the southern shores of the Burin Peninsula.
With Erin now gone, weather conditions cleared the way for a launch window to open on Friday, August 29. The first window, which opened at 5:30 a.m NDT (4:00 a.m. EDT), was called off due to a technical issue with the quick disconnect for the line feeding liquid nitrogen into the rocket's propulsion system.
Having corrected the problem, NordSpace has now opened a new launch window, which began at 3 p.m. NDT (1:30 p.m EDT). Weather conditions — specifically fog — caused the ground crew to freeze the countdown, initially. However the rocket is now fueled, the launch pad has been secured, and we only await the final steps before we have "go for launch" and liftoff.
Watch the launch live stream, below:
"This is something that our whole team has been working so long for, investing so much in," NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told CBC News on Thursday. "We want to deliver success."
"This pathfinder mission for NordSpace, called "Getting Screeched In", will be a demonstration flight of our fully Canadian-made sub-orbital rocket - Taiga," the company wrote on their website.
"We believe that it is critical for a Canadian launch capability to be supported by Canadian designed and manufactured rockets, launching from Canadian soil, by a 100% Canadian owned company. Our team has been painstakingly building our Taiga launch vehicle, powered by our proprietary 3D printed liquid rocket engine, called the Hadfield Engine."
A sub-orbital rocket flight is one that lifts off with only enough thrust to carry it into the upper atmosphere. In contrast, an orbital flight will reach altitudes several hundred kilometres above the ground, and make at least one full pass around the planet.
The launch of Taiga, according to NordSpace, will last for roughly 60 seconds before the flight ends with the rocket splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Thumbnail image shows Newfoundland's Burin and Avalon Peninsulas in a picture taken by Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques on June 24, 2019)