There are many good reasons why Canada needs its own sovereign launch capability, and why it needs to build and launch its own rockets as soon as possible.
This message rang out loud and clear during the Canadian Space Launch Conference (CSLC) session, ‘Making Commercial Space Launch a Priority, A Conversation on Policy, Regulations and Vision’. Organized by NordSpace, the Canadian launcher/satellite/launch services startup, the CSLC was held April 29, 2025 at the Canada Aviation & Space Museum.
The most sobering reason why Canada needs to build and launch its own rockets was laid out by Alex MacDonald, former NASA Chief Economist. “There is an understanding that if there is ever another war between peer competitors or near-peer competitors, that the first stages are very likely to be in space,” he told the packed CLSC audience hall. “Fundamentally, space access is foundational for 21st century space security: That’s it. If we do not have our own assured access to space, then we are not going to be able to act in one of the most important domains of any potential future company — there are no guarantees. In the past we could assume that we could buy space as a service and we still do, very thankfully. We want that to continue as long as possible, but that is not a guarantee.”
Fortunately, there are many positive reasons for developing a sovereign launch capability in Canada. For example, the “economic spinoffs from space are very significant,” said MacDonald. Implicitly referencing his time at NASA, he then quipped, “it’s not that it’s about Tang [the 1960s-era dehydrated orange drink consumed by astronauts] and these types of things.” Instead, the economic benefits of having a domestic space industry include the development of a highly skilled workforce. “When you fund people to build complex space systems, they learn the most important types of engineering and technical skills that are needed for everything,” MacDonald said. “So when we fund orbital launch capabilities, we are funding the critical technology skillset [needed] for the 21st century.”
Having a domestic launch capability is also vital for ensuring and enhancing Canada’s position on the world stage, at a time when space is becoming a contested arena. Right now, “one of the places where Canada is really strong, for space, is in diplomacy,” said Andrea Harrington, Co-Director/Associate Professor at the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law. “Developing a Canadian national launch capability would further enable the levels of diplomatic engagement for Canada to model what a responsible power in space looks like going forward, which of course enables cooperation and further economic growth and development for Canada.”
As well, having a domestic launch capability will help Canada protect Arctic sovereignty and national security, track global warming, and respond to natural disasters more effectively. This is why this nation must be able to design, build and launch its own rockets for commercial and defence purposes. “In the world in which we find ourselves today, the cost to Canada, to its economy and to its national security, of not having sovereign launch capabilities is too high,” said Adam Trumpour, Founder of Launch Canada. “This needs to change.”
