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<\/p>\n\u201cAbout 20 per cent of the Canadian economy relies on satellites \u2014 our banking systems, our cellphone systems, our transactions,\u201d McGuinty said.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we want to be able to give ourself more sovereignty and security on that front.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that Ottawa does not want to be entirely dependent on third parties to launch rockets into space, but he did not name any specifically.<\/p>\n
McGuinty also announced Canada plans to become a full member of the NATO STARLIFT initiative, a project to create a space-launch network to allow allies to send payloads into space on short notice.<\/p>\n
The Halifax-based company Maritime Launch Services, which is building Spaceport Nova Scotia, will set up the site near Canso, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n
Stephen Matier, the publicly traded company\u2019s CEO, said the federal contract will give a boost to his company by sending a strong signal to the market about the spaceport\u2019s development and by acting almost like an anchor tenant at a mall.<\/p>\n
He said a sovereign launch capability is a big step for Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, we\u2019ve been taking our satellites from MDA Space or Kepler or those here in Canada and writing big cheques to Space X to launch them from Florida or from California,\u201d Matier said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpace X is selling extra space on their rockets \u2026 but you don\u2019t get to go where you want to go or when you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The announcement comes as the number of spacecraft being put into orbit continues to increase at a dramatic pace.<\/p>\n
McGuinty said the world can expect to see up to 70,000 satellites launched into low-earth orbit over the next five years.<\/p>\n
David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank, said sovereign launch capacity will help save Canadian satellites from waiting years in a queue for launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just have way more control over our own destiny. We aren\u2019t at the mercy of someone else\u2019s priorities and schedules,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, Canadian national priorities get action quicker than if we\u2019re relying on other people\u2019s infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah Gallagher, former adviser to the Canadian Space Agency and now director of Western University\u2019s Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, said there are not a lot of countries around the world with sovereign launch capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have our own space assets in outer space, and so being able to access them immediately with resources that we have control over is quite important. The other thing is that having a launch site actually in Nova Scotia is really advantageous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe latitude of Nova Scotia can give you access to different kinds of orbits, which is useful depending on what you\u2019re what you\u2019re trying to do. Obviously we care a lot about the North, and so having a launch site that\u2019s at northern latitudes can be used for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new initiative is part of the Liberal government\u2019s Defence Industrial Strategy, its blueprint to build up the Canadian Armed Forces and the domestic defence sector.<\/p>\n
The 2025 budget also earmarked $183 million over the next three years for establishing sovereign space launch capabilities, though the federal government did not explain anything about what it envisioned when the budget was released last fall.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAbout 20 per cent of the Canadian economy relies on satellites \u2014 our banking systems, our cellphone systems,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-541895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}