Canada plans to have its first commercial rocket-launching facility in Nova Scotia operational by 2022.
Maritime Launch Services (MLS), the company behind the project, is looking to enter the market of launching satellites into orbit. It hopes to launch eight rockets into space annually, and each would have a payload of about 7,400 pounds, according to Universe Today.
The Cyclone M4 rocket MLS plans to launch from its spaceport has an excellent safety track record, with 221 successful launches under its belt. Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Space Agency will be involved in the spaceport, which will be an entirely private business.
The U.S. is already operating nine at least partially-commercial spaceports with a tenth under construction, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. More than 10 other commercial spaceports have been proposed across the country.
The market for commercial space transportation and human space travel is already growing exponentially, meaning the demand for spaceport services will likely grow as well. The first two commercial space tourists will ride a SpaceX rocket into orbit around the moon sometime late next year.
Blue Origin, a competitor to SpaceX owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has already opened up “early access” to ticket information for potential space tourists after a successful test of its rocket’s escape pod. Blue Origin hopes to send the tourists to space on its recently unveiled New Glenn reusable rocket as well.
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