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4w ago

NordSpace Sets New Attempt Today for Canada’s First Commercial Rocket Launch

After scrubs for a boat incursion plus brief residual‑propellant fires, the company reports launch‑readiness.

NordSpace crews go over data in anticipation of launching the company’s suborbital test rocket from the Atlantic Spaceport Complex it is developing in St. Lawrence on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Burin Peninsula.
NordSpace is preparing to launch its six-metre tall Taiga rocket in St. Lawrence, N.L.
The inaugural launch of NordSpace's kerosene/liquid oxygen liquid-fuelled Taiga rocket, seen here prior to being place in the upright launch position, will have to wait for another day after the company decided to close its second launch window on Thursday, Sept. 25.
NordSpace says it will announce the next expected launch date for its Taiga suborbital rocket test flight from St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula in the coming weeks.

Overview

  • The St. Lawrence, N.L., campaign resumes Thursday with a publicly announced window that opened at 6:30 a.m. NT and with conditions expected to improve near 9:00 NDT.
  • Two Tuesday attempts were halted, first when a small boat entered the range and later around T‑30 seconds when smoke and flames appeared near the rocket’s base.
  • A further attempt on Wednesday was scrubbed after what the company described as a minor pad fire.
  • CEO Rahul Goel said the visible flames came from residual propellant on the pad, characterizing such flareups as not uncommon for launches.
  • Taiga is a six‑metre, single‑engine rocket built with 3D‑printed metal, and the planned suborbital flight will last about a minute before a splashdown in the Atlantic; NordSpace plans to livestream the attempt.