Isar Aerospace to Launch its Rockets from Nova Scotia (Canada) Increasing its Launch Activity

We have reported in recent hours on how the Spanish company PLD Space is building a launch pad at the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, thus joining Arianespace, MaiaSpace, and Avio. The Italian company could start launching its Vega vehicles from Virginia, not only from South America. In recent days, Isar Aerospace announced an agreement to launch its rockets from Nova Scotia, Canada (specifically in Canso).

According to the German company, the agreement is with Maritime Launch Services (MLS), the operator managing Spaceport Nova Scotia. Due to its location (far from the equator), this launch site will be useful for missions operating in medium and high inclination orbits and polar orbits. These types of orbits can be used for satellites dedicated to Earth observation and communications for both commercial and government clients.

Alexandre Dalloneau (Vice President Mission and Launch Operations, Isar Aerospace) stated, "Access to Space is a prerequisite for the security and economic resilience of every nation. With our unique ability to design, produce, and scale launch systems internally and to build the required ground infrastructure – we are well on our way to enabling sovereign access to Space – for Canada, Germany, and allied nations. By joining forces with MLS, we are establishing a pathway to realize sovereign launch capability from North American soil."

The first and currently only launch of an Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket took place from the Andøya Spaceport (Norway), concluding after a few seconds due to a technical issue. The second mission, called Onward and Upward, was initially scheduled for January this year, then postponed to no earlier than March and finally to April, while it is currently unclear when it will actually be launched. According to Isar Aerospace, a leak from a COPV (composite overwrapped pressure vessel) has led to a delay as the company is trying to resolve the issue.

In the meantime, the German company has opened a new test site at the Esrange Space Center in Sweden to increase future launch cadence, also tightening agreements for future commercial missions, such as the one with Astroscale. Having multiple launch sites is crucial, as demonstrated by the incident that occurred in Florida due to a malfunction of the New Glenn rocket by Blue Origin, which compromised the company’s activities for several months.