NordSpace is once again hoping to make history on Newfoundland’s south coast with Canada’s first commercial rocket launch, and is now eyeing Wednesday afternoon for takeoff.
The company is making a renewed attempt to launch its single-engine rocket, Taiga, in St. Lawrence. It’s a six-metre tall rocket created using 3D-printed metal.
The launch will be live streamed.
The company had been preparing to launch on Wednesday morning, but shortly before 11 a.m. NT said the attempt would likely happen in the afternoon.
“Minimum ceiling is about 5,000 [feet.] Keep in mind that many of these restrictions will not be in place for our orbital vehicles. We can launch with almost no visibility and higher winds, as many do,” NordSpace said in a comment in its livestream.
In a statement on its website, around 5:30 a.m., NordSpace said both the pad and rocket are launch-ready.
Wednesday’s launch window opened at 6:30 a.m.
On Tuesday, NordSpace made two attempts to launch the rocket. The first was called off because a small boat appeared in the ocean near the launch area.
When cleared for another attempt, the mission was a go for launch until about 30 seconds before the timer reached zero. However, smoke and fire became visible near the bottom of the rocket, forcing a pause on the mission.
NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel said the flames came from residual propellant on the launch pad, and that a fire in that manner isn’t uncommon for rocket launches.
NordSpace also attempted several launches in late August, and was 58 seconds away from takeoff when an ignition issue occurred and the mission was scrubbed.
The launch — when it happens — will be suborbital, meaning the rocket won’t orbit Earth and will only be in the air for about a minute before it splashes into the Atlantic Ocean.
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