NordSpace Selected by Department of National Defence for Phase 1 Award of $8.3 Million to Advance Sovereign Space Launch
Press Release
NordSpace's Tundra orbital launch vehicle and Atlantic Spaceport Complex recognized in Canada's landmark $105 million sovereign space launch competition
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, March 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NordSpace Corp. is proud to announce that it has been selected as a winner of the Department of National Defence's (DND) "Launch the North: Accelerating Canada's Sovereign Access to Space" challenge, administered through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program. NordSpace has been awarded $8.33 million in Phase 1 grant funding toward the development and demonstration of its Tundra orbital launch vehicle, aiming to become Canada's first domestically designed, built, and operated end-to-end orbital launch system, targeting an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for responsive light-lift launch from Canadian soil by 2028.
“Our Tundra rocket, ASX spaceport, and full NordSpace ecosystem is the most advanced and integrated sovereign launch effort in Canada. We will not let this opportunity pass. We will ensure Canada wins.”
Rahul Goel, CEO & Founder
NordSpace, a fully Canadian owned company, has developed over many years an advanced, integrated, and operationally mature sovereign launch architecture. Over the past four years, the company has progressed from clean-sheet designs to tested flight-ready propulsion systems, a fully permitted commercial spaceport under active construction, an in-orbit satellite mission manifested for 2026 extending to a constellation, a wide range of in-house advanced manufacturing capabilities, and a growing ecosystem of Canadian industrial, academic, and defence partnerships. The Launch the North award marks the federal government's recognition of that foundation and a decisive acceleration toward Canada's first orbital launch.
Launch the North represents the most significant federal investment in Canadian sovereign space launch in the nation's history. Administered by DND and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) through the IDEaS program, the challenge offers a total prize pool of up to $105 million distributed across three fiscal years and three progressive phases: $25 million in Phase 1, $40 million in Phase 2, and a $40 million grand prize in the final demonstration phase in 2027-28. The initiative reflects Canada's recognition that access to space is as strategically critical as the payloads that reach it. As Canada's reliance on space-based systems for communications, navigation, intelligence, surveillance, and early warning continues to deepen, the absence of a sovereign launch capability represents a material national security vulnerability.
Through Launch the North, DND and CAF aim to secure Canada's strategic autonomy in space, reduce dependence on foreign launch providers, stimulate Canadian innovation and dual-use technology development, and position Canada as a global leader in commercial and defence-oriented space launch.
At the centre of the Tundra program is a two-stage, turbopump-fed liquid bipropellant launch vehicle capable of delivering 500+ kg to LEO and 350+ kg to Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at IOC, with an upgrade path to 1,100 kg to LEO and 850 kg to SSO in its Tundra+ configuration. A modular engine architecture in which the same turbopump-fed engine, called the Hadfield engine, powers both the multi-engine first stage cluster and the single-engine vacuum-optimized second stage, reduces development time and risk while providing a direct scaling path to NordSpace's future Titan medium-lift vehicle targeting 5,000+ kg to LEO. This light-to-medium lift roadmap ensures that Canada's sovereign launch capability grows in step with national defence, commercial, and allied demand over the coming decade.
A defining characteristic of Tundra is its multi-fuel propulsion capability, designed to operate on kerosene, Jet-A, or carbon-neutral Sustainable Aviation Fuels drawn from existing aviation fuel supply chains across Canada. Combined with container-portable vehicle and ground support equipment, this architecture enables mobile, infrastructure-light responsive launch from temporary land or maritime platforms anywhere in Canada, not only from the Atlantic Spaceport Complex. Responsive launch within 96 hours of formal notice, advancing to 24 hours post-IOC, is achieved through an integrated set of operational capabilities and the company’s StarGate modular launch system.
What distinguishes NordSpace is the depth of its vertical integration, similar to industry leaders such as SpaceX and Rocket Lab. NordSpace designs and manufactures its own engines, develops and operates its own spaceport, builds and flies its own satellites, and invests in the broader Canadian space ecosystem. This end-to-end architecture spanning rockets, spaceport, satellites, propulsion and advanced manufacturing is unique in Canada and constitutes the foundational infrastructure upon which a durable, sovereign Canadian space industry can be built.
The Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX), located near St. Lawrence on Newfoundland's southern Burin Peninsula, is the only purpose-built commercial orbital launch facility in Canada and one of the most strategically advantaged launch sites in the western hemisphere. ASX supports the widest range of nominal launch inclinations available from any Canadian site, 44 to 105 degrees over the Atlantic Ocean, enabling direct access to polar, sun-synchronous, mid-inclination, and select equatorial orbits. Its position on Newfoundland's southern coast places it more than five kilometres from the nearest community, providing the largest safety distances of any Canadian launch site and the clearances necessary to support medium-lift vehicles as NordSpace scales.
ASX is the only Canadian member of the Global Spaceport Alliance, and in January 2026 received its landmark environmental approval from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador following more than two years of technical studies and consultation with local communities, Indigenous stakeholders, and federal and provincial agencies. The vertical integration of Tundra with its own anchor spaceport delivers operational efficiencies in logistics, range safety, launch cadence, and infrastructure investment that no launch operator relying on a shared or foreign facility can replicate. New investments and construction at the ASX will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
"At NordSpace, we have been working for years to develop scalable end-to-end space launch capabilities for Canada and today, our nation has sent an unequivocal signal that Canada too will become a spacefaring nation capable of assured access to space." said Rahul Goel, CEO and Founder of NordSpace Corp. "For NordSpace, sovereign launch is certainly about securing our national interests, building a stronger economy, and supporting our allies. However, it is also about healthier food on our plates, clearer communication with loved ones, faster responses to environmental challenges, reshoring advanced manufacturing, and revivifying Canadian dynamism."
The Tundra program is structured to deliver broad and lasting benefits to Canada's industrial base. The vast majority of project activities and expenditures will occur in Canada, with the design deliberately entirely ITAR-free to preserve export flexibility and strengthen domestic supply chains. The program draws on a renowned ecosystem of Canadian partners including Magellan Aerospace, Continuum Aerospace, Kongsberg Geospatial, C-CORE, Ronan Aerospace, and Launch Canada, alongside university collaborators at the University of Toronto, McMaster, Waterloo, Concordia, and Western, and college partners including Canadore College and the College of the North Atlantic.
The program prioritizes Indigenous-led suppliers, including Bear Paw Powder Manufacturing for aerospace-grade metal powders and CREE-Metaplast for aerospace printed circuit boards. It is projected to create 134 direct, high-skill jobs by 2028 and more than 650 by 2032, with an estimated 1,600+ indirect and induced jobs across Canada's broader industrial base as NordSpace scales to medium-lift production.
"This award from the Department of National Defence is a defining moment, not just for NordSpace, but for Canada's role in space." said Goel "For too long, Canada has depended on foreign providers ranging from the United States and Russia to New Zealand and India to access a domain that is increasingly essential to our national security, our economy, and our sovereignty. Launch the North changes that equation, and NordSpace is honoured to be entrusted with helping to deliver it. Tundra, ASX, and the entire NordSpace ecosystem represent the most advanced, integrated, and shovel-ready sovereign launch architecture in Canada. We will not let this opportunity pass, and will ensure Canada wins."
NordSpace will be hosting the second Canadian Space Launch Conference in Ottawa on May 5th, expecting hundreds of key stakeholders spanning the entire space launch sector and featuring over 40 speakers including a keynote by BGen Christopher Horner, Commander of the 3 Canadian Space Division. Registration is open at www.spacelaunch.ca.
About NordSpace
NordSpace, a 100% Canadian-owned aerospace defence company established in 2022, develops vertically integrated solutions for responsive orbital launch vehicles, spaceports, turn-key satellites, and mission-critical software systems. 100% designed, built, and flown in Canada to go from anywhere on Earth to anywhere in space. The company’s mission is to advance life on Earth through space, delivering innovation, jobs, national security, and sovereignty.