CANSO — Approval to rezone a tiny land parcel for a new satellite tracking station in the Canso area is key to the “long-term development” of Canada’s first commercial rocket base, says Maritime Launch Services (MLS) founder and president Stephen Matier.
But, at least one area resident and prominent critic of MLS’s plan remains skeptical about the spaceport project and thinks it may have actually stalled. “Frankly, I think most folks’ eyes are glazing over at this point regarding MLS,” said Action Against Canso Spaceport (AACS) member Marie Lumsden in an email to The Journal last week, ahead of the Wednesday, Jan. 8 public hearing on the rezoning application.
The 4:15 p.m. hearing at Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) chambers will allow members of the public to comment on MLS’s bid to reclassify its 6.97-acre property at 233 Dover Rd. from mixed-use rural residential (MRR-1) to commercial for a full-scale satellite launch tracking and data transmission station.
According to a letter from Matier to MODG staff in November, approval would enable “an important long-term development for Maritime Launch, and for the community” as it would permit the company’s first commercial clients to proceed. “We are already incorporating one, [whose] small footprint [is] allowed under the MRR-1 designation, into the plan,” he explained. “The second client has a much larger build planned, and we will need commercial zoning in place [for that].”
Lumsden commented to The Journal on the spaceport’s future site near Canso – which includes 335 acres of provincial Crown land secured with regulatory approvals, in addition to the seven-acre plot – stating: “What started as a grandiose plan has devolved into an unfinished gravel road, a small concrete pad with PVC pipes jutting out, a portable toilet, one hobby rocket launch and a shifting narrative that boggles the mind. I think folks might be wise to ask why, if MLS is, as they claim, a ‘state-of-the-art, fully licensed’ spaceport that has ‘completed its EA requirements,’ absolutely nothing is happening on the Crown lease parcel they call the Canso Spaceport.”
The AACS has been critical of the initiative since 2016, when Matier – a former aerospace engineer originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico – first proposed it. In June, group member Jim Geddes told The Journal that its “over 400 voting age” members – concerned about local health and safety, property values and the environment – had signed a petition opposing the spaceport’s plan to import Ukrainian-made rockets to launch commercial satellites into Earth orbit.
MLS’s business model has shifted. Last year, the company announced it would abandon plans to launch its rockets from the Canso site and instead focus on becoming more of an ‘airport’ for other companies with launch capabilities
In September, the company struck a 10-year deal to host a ground satellite tracking and data collection station for Italian tech firm Leaf Space. 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 at a future date.
“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,” Matier said in the Reaction Dynamics announcement. “This is something that has never been done before in our country, and we are proud to lead this charge.”
For his part, Matier rejects both the suggestion that the spaceport has stalled or that the community does not broadly support it. In his November note to MODG staff, he said the redesignation of the seven-acre plot was necessary to advancing MLS’s commercial plans which could ultimately support up to 15 skilled engineers and technicians. “There is some urgency to our request,” he said. “The intention is to be operational by the fall of 2025.”
In an email to The Journal last week, he said most “community members from across the municipality have been open and gracious with their time and interest by attending our open houses, meeting with experts, writing and calling us for updates and seeking understanding by asking difficult questions.”
At the MODG’s committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 4, Warden Paul Long and Deputy Warden Janet Peitzsche, who represents District 5 (Little Dover, Hazel Hill, Upper Fox Island, Tickle and Durrells Island), expressed support for the recent commercial developments. “It’s good to see [MLS] actually doing something and moving forward,” said Peitzsche. Added Long: “This would be a good start to 2025.”
Lumsden did not respond to The Journal’s inquiry about whether she planned to attend the public hearing.
Supported by its investors since its corporate launch, MLS posted pre-tax losses for the year ending Dec. 31, 2023, of $4.8 million, compared with $7.4 million in 2022.
