HALIFAX: A local community might end up with an interstellar reputation.
Last week, Maritime Launch Services (MLS) hosted an open house at the Canso-Hazel Hill Volunteer Fire Department to discuss the possibility of a rocket launch base in the area.
MLS president Steve Matier said he and other partners began working on the space-port idea some time ago, noting he wanted to bring the company’s idea to the community and open up the floor to answer any possible questions.
“Maritime Launch Services was formed in October to take a closer look at the prospect of a launch site in Nova Scotia,” said Matier.
“Our team, over the last year, has been looking at a total of 14 different launch locations across North America, from Mexico to Canada, and we’ve been narrowing down the candidate sites that can meet our needs. We’ve narrowed it down to a primary couple at this point and Canso is a little further along [as] the development prospect.”
Matier said the company received community support across the board, and met with the Guysborough County Inshore Fishermen’s Association to begin a dialogue.
While the company began in October, Matier said the team making up the company has several decades of combined experience in the field. He said the idea for the launch site is to be able to launch satellite-carrying rockets into space, noting there is a significant need for observation-type satellites, Internet satellites, and others.
“Our rocket class fits a niche that we think will have the payload capacity filled on a fairly regular basis,” he said, noting Yuzhnoye Design Office is the Ukraine-based company manufacturing the rockets.
Matier said the company is hoping to make a final decision in the next 30-45 days. He also reported the cost of the proposed facility, which could include a launch pad and a processing facility, would be close to $100 million.