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Rocket Fuel & National Pride: Inside NordSpace’s Push for Canadian Space Sovereignty

SciCan
Jun 25
3 min read

Updated: Jun 27

Taking Canada's Space Ambitions to New Heights

When we talk Canadian innovation, the typical northern gems come to mind: fintech, AI, and healthcare. But Canada's space industry has long been quietly pushing the country further into orbit.

From the Canadarm to companies like MDA, our space program and industry are renowned and deeply ingrained in international programs, like the International Space Station. Given the global coordination and funding required to run a complex space program, the international nature of space has historically been a strategic advantage, especially for economically constrained nations like Canada.

However, our reliance on other nations can also lead to over-dependence — something that NordSpace is on a mission to change. The company aims to provide Canada with sovereign access to space across the entire lifecycle, encompassing rockets, satellites, and launches from Canadian soil.

That's quite the challenge. But NordSpace's founder is uniquely positioned to undertake that journey.

Speaking at Tech Week Toronto, NordSpace founder Rahul Goel described how he decided to build SaaS companies with the ultimate aim of generating funds for his ambitious space mission. (A model that's reminiscent of Musk's creation of software companies to later fund his space ambitions.)

From Newfoundland, With Thrust

Headquartered in Toronto, NordSpace is building what could soon become a critical piece of space infrastructure: a spaceport in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. Nestled near a former fishing town, the spaceport has already built close ties to the local community, hosting regular open houses and student rocketry days.

It's a strategic response to decades of launch delay.

“Canada is the only G7 country without sovereign access to space. We’re behind two dozen other nations who are already moving fast. That needs to change, and we’re going to be the ones to change it.”

Mirroring its national mission, the company is vertically integrated, focused on building:

Launch Vehicles: Their Tiger, Tundra, and Titan rockets are on track to make Canadian space history, with Titan’s first launch scheduled for the 2030s, potentially the first wholly Canadian orbital launch ever.
Propulsion Systems: The Hadfield and Earn engines are 100% Canadian-built and tested on a 50-acre site established in just a few months, thanks to local and in-house manufacturing talent.
Satellites: The company’s first satellite is scheduled to launch in June 2026, testing electric propulsion, a Canadian-built satellite bus, and AI-driven imaging systems.

Canada's Brain Drain Is Real. NordSpace Wants to Reverse It.

Canada has one of the best-educated populations on the planet. However, highly educated Canadians often find better opportunities for economic mobility abroad.

To change that, Goel aims to inspire other Canadians to dream big.

“We’re losing our best people. I graduated in aerospace from UofT in 2016, and most of my cohort isn’t in Canada anymore. We’re losing not just talent, but hope. We need to give people something to believe in.”

NordSpace's team includes engineers and technicians who are friends of Goel's from high school STEM programs. And when it comes to inspiring others to aim higher, Goel is the person for the job, having lived in his car while bootstrapping SaaS businesses to self-fund his rocket R&D.

The Economic Case for Space Sovereignty

Canada currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars launching satellites through U.S. or international providers.

For instance, Goel described how Ottawa's Telesat, a would-be sovereign alternative to Starlink, is spending roughly US$1.5 billion (largely taxpayer-funded) to launch from the United States.

“If we had the infrastructure here, that money would stay in Canada. It would power our supply chains, our engineering base, our job creation."

Goel estimates that NordSpace's spaceport and manufacturing hub could generate thousands of jobs over the next decade, spanning fabrication, logistics, regulatory compliance, and advanced research.

While countries like New Zealand, Scotland, and Sweden are already punching above their weight in space technology, Canada's launch capacity has lagged.

NordSpace is betting that with enough grit, private capital, and a little national pride, the country can play catch-up fast.

Reports show the opportunity is already there:

The global space economy is projected to hit $1.8 trillion by 2035, more than doubling from $630 billion in 2023 (McKinsey).
Canada’s space sector contributed $2.3 billion to GDP in 2022 and supported 22,000 direct and indirect jobs (CSA Report).

Much More Than Rockets

As the NordSpace team battles sub-zero temperatures and swarms of black flies while designing engines and testing rockets, they're looking to launch more than rockets.

Goel and the team are building a movement.

From Newfoundland to British Columbia, Goel wants kids from anywhere across Canada to know they can build amazing things.