Canadian space news — Markham-based NordSpace has been granted a new September 20–27 launch window to attempt Canada’s first commercial rocket launch, after a faulty ignition safety system forced the company to scrub its last attempt just 58 seconds before liftoff.
By Maplestime Business Desk | Canada | September 19, 2026
Sources: BetaKit | Last updated: September 19, 2026
Key Takeaways
- NordSpace’s new NordSpace launch window runs September 20 to 27 at the Atlantic Spaceport Complex near St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador.
- The company gets two launch blocks per day: 6:30 a.m.–12 p.m. and 3 p.m.–7 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time.
- The previous attempt was scrubbed 58 seconds before liftoff due to bad weather — including Hurricane Erin — and a faulty rocket ignition safety system.
- If it flies, the 17-foot Taiga rocket will be the first commercial liquid rocket launch in Canadian history.
- Twelve NordSpace team members are flying out to the Newfoundland launch site this weekend.
The NordSpace Launch Gets a Second Chance
Fifty-eight seconds. That’s how close Canada came to its first commercial rocket launch in late August — and how far away it still is.
NordSpace, the Markham, Ontario aerospace startup founded in 2022 by Rahul Goel, has secured a fresh window to fly its Taiga rocket from the Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) near St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador. The window opens September 20 and runs through September 27, with the company getting two shots per day: a morning block from 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. ADT and an afternoon block from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ADT.
Twelve members of the NordSpace team will fly out to the site this weekend to get ready.
“Everything went extremely well, all things considered,” Goel told BetaKit about the August attempts. “We’re trying to improve our process… so we can launch on a dime.”
He called the August mishaps “par for the course” for a first launch attempt, chalking them up to the difference between a controlled testing environment and the messy reality of an actual launch site.
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Why the First NordSpace Launch Attempt Was Scrubbed
The week of August 25 was supposed to be historic. Instead, it was a lesson in how unforgiving rocketry is.
A string of scrubbed attempts that week culminated in the gut-punch: a forced delay just 58 seconds before liftoff. Two culprits sank the effort — unsuitable weather, including the tail effects of Hurricane Erin rolling through the Atlantic, and a faulty rocket ignition safety system that the team wouldn’t fly without fixing.
Goel has been refreshingly candid about it. No spin, no excuses. Just the reality that a 17-foot liquid-fuelled rocket doesn’t care about your launch window when the sky is angry and a safety sensor is misbehaving.
What Makes This NordSpace Launch Historic
The Taiga is about 17 feet tall — small by SpaceX standards, enormous by Canadian standards. If the suborbital flight goes ahead, it will mark two firsts at once:
- The first commercial liquid rocket launch in Canadian history
- The first commercial launch from a private Canadian spaceport
NordSpace spent more than a year securing approvals from agencies including Transport Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Agriculture. Goel says the support from both provincial and federal governments has been “really encouraging” — and frankly, it needs to be. Canada has talked about sovereign space capacity for decades while launching almost nothing of its own.
The Bigger Bet Behind the NordSpace Launch
NordSpace isn’t just trying to fly one small rocket. The company’s stated mission is to build launch vehicles, spaceports, and satellites entirely in Canada — part of a push to drag the country back into the space race on its own terms, with satellites and robotics for Earth orbit and the moon in its sights. The company argues that homegrown launch capacity matters for Canada’s security and sovereignty, not just its bragging rights.
It was featured in BetaKit’s Most Ambitious list for exactly this reason. And it’s not alone: Montréal-based Reaction Dynamics is planning an orbital rocket launch from a planned Spaceport Nova Scotia facility in 2028.
The race for Canada’s first commercial spaceflight is officially on. NordSpace just wants to win it next week.
Maplestime will provide updates from the NordSpace launch as announcements are made through the September 20–27 window.
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Do you think Canada is finally serious about building its own space industry — or is this another promise that won’t survive contact with Canada’s regulatory reality? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian watching the space race this weekend.
