CANSO — Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) council will host a public hearing next month regarding an application to rezone a seven-acre residential plot near Little Dover for a proposed rocket launch tracking facility.
Deputy Warden Janet Peitzsche, who represents District 5 (Little Dover, Hazel Hill, Upper Fox Island, Tickle, and Durrells Island), and Warden Paul Long expressed support for the project during council’s Dec. 4 committee of the whole (COW) meeting. The request from Stephen Matier, CEO of Canso-based Maritime Launch Services (MLS), outlined plans to establish a “satellite and launch tracking and data transmission hub for two clients,” as well as its operations.
“It’s good to see [MLS] actually doing something and moving forward,” said Peitzsche. Long added, “This would be a good start to 2025.”
In his request, Matier explained that MLS has purchased a 6.97-acre, mixed-use rural residential (MRR-1) parcel at 233 Dover Rd. in 2021 to host commercial launch operations in 2021. Since then, he noted, “We are already incorporating one client into the plan [whose] small footprint [is] allowed under the MRR-1 designation.”
However, he said, “The second client has a much larger build planned, and we will need commercial zoning in place [for that].”
He emphasized that the rezoning is necessary to finalize MLS’s contract with that second client “in the next 45 days to push through” design for a building that will ultimately support up to 15 skilled engineers and technicians. “There is some urgency to our request.... The intention is to be operational by the fall of 2025.”
He added: “This is an important long-term development for Maritime Launch, and for the community in Little Dover and Hazel Hill. Not only will this be the first revenue generation for our company, but there will also be direct economic benefit. Furthermore, our draft contract with our [second] client contemplates a 10-year term [as a] base ... with five-year block extensions.”
MLS signed a 10-year contract to host a ground satellite tracking and data collection station for Italian tech firm Leaf Space in September. The following month, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Quebec-based aerospace component maker Reaction Dynamics to mount an orbital launch from the Canso facility.
In the Reaction Dynamics announcement, Matier said, “For the first time, Canada will host its own homegrown rocket technology, launched from a Canadian-built commercial spaceport, offering launch vehicle and satellite customers the opportunity to reach space without leaving Canadian soil. This is something that has never been done before in our country, and we are proud to lead this charge.”
MLS has been developing what it describes as “Canada’s first and only commercial spaceport” on 335 acres of leased, provincial Crown land since 2016.
In her briefing note last week, MODG Development Officer Deborah Torrey recommended approving the application to rezone the land in question to light industrial (LI) as it “supports [the goal of] growing and diversifying the economy” articulated in the MODG’s municipal planning strategy.
“It’s been a long time,” Peitzsche said. “It’s great to see that [MLS is] finally coming back into the mix.” Said Long: “[The letter] mentions important long-term development for [themselves], for the community, direct economic spinoffs.... At the end of the day, that’s what we are really looking for.”
MLS has faced criticism from some Canso-area residents, who have worried about the environmental effects of a functioning launch centre in their community and expressed skepticism about the credibility of some of the company’s “forward-looking” statements since winning provincial environmental assessment approval in 2019.
In June, Canso resident Jim Geddes – who indicated he was affiliated with the group Action Against Canso Spaceport and said he represents the interests of more than 400 voting-age residents, who have signed a petition opposing the spaceport – told the The Journal in an email: “We are worried about our health, safety and wellbeing. No level of government has bothered to come to this area to explain the impacts of living next to an operating spaceport. With the closest full-time residence three kilometres from ... MLS, can the government guarantee that no residents will be permanently forced from their homes through a buy-back program, expropriation or some other method?”
Council approved the COW’s recommendation to hold a public hearing on the rezoning request – one moved by Peitzsche and seconded by District 8 Councillor Fin Armsworthy, representing Canso – at its regular meeting later in the day.
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 4:15 p.m., in council chambers.
