Maritime Launch Services
Maritime Launch Services is a Canadian space transport services company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. MLS is building a commercial launch facility near Canso, Nova Scotia called Spaceport Nova Scotia. Two sub-orbital flights have been launched from this site.
Originally, MLS was to rely on Ukrainian-built Cyclone-4M rockets by Pivdenne Design Office to launch polar and Sun-synchronous orbit from Canso, Nova Scotia. Due to supply problems caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the agreement was terminated.
In 2024, Maritime Launch Services transitioned to an airport model, planning to lease facilities and services to launch vehicle providers. The company has signed agreements with UK-based company Skyrora, Netherlands-based company T-Minus Engineering, and Quebec-based company Reaction Dynamics to provide launch services.
Launch Site
On 14 March 2017, MLS selected Canso, Nova Scotia as its launch site. MLS applied to lease 15 hectares of land outside the town from the provincial Department of Natural Resources. This leased area was later increased to 335 acres. The launch site is approximately 3.5 km south of Canso, with the Vehicle Processing Facility located approximately 2 km south-west of Canso. After delays, MLS received final approval for construction in August 2022 and began work in September 2022.The site is slated to include a 10 to 15 metre-tall control centre and rocket assembly facility, with a launch pad positioned 2.4 kilometres away, linked by a custom rail system for rocket transportation. It will be the only operational spaceport in Canada, after the abandonment of the Churchill Rocket Research Range in the 1990s, and the first commercial spaceport for orbital launches in the country. It was estimated that construction of the spaceport would take three or four years to complete, but the first pad was not ready until 2024.
Launch History
First launch
The first rocket launch that occurred from Spaceport Nova Scotia was the Goose 3 amateur rocket developed by Arbalest Rocketry, a student group from York University. The Goose 3 rocket's first launch attempt occurred on 5 July 2023, but was delayed by one day, due to weather. Goose 3 was successful launched on 6 July 2023, reaching 13.4 kilometers.Second launch
The second rocket launch that occurred from Spaceport Nova Scotia was the Barracuda hypersonic test platform by T-Minus Engineering. Two Barracudas were originally scheduled to be launched in October 2025, this was reduced to one Barracuda due to T-Minus Engineering not having completed the second rocket, and the launch was delayed to a 18-24 November 2025 launch window due to a European port strike. The Barracuda was successful launched on 20 November 2025 at 10:54 a.m. eastern, but did not cross the Kármán line.Launch Vehicle Partnerships
Cyclone-4M
MLS originally planned to utilize the Ukrainian-built Cyclone-4M medium-lift launch vehicle designed by Pivdenne Design Office. It was expected to use a first-stage derived from the Soviet-era Zenit launch vehicle. It was to be powered by four Ukrainian-built RD-870 kerosene/LOX engines. These engines were originally designed for the vacuum of space on a second-stage for Soviet-era rockets. The upper stage stack was developed from the original hypergolic Cyclone 4 rocket. The first launch of the Cyclone-4M was originally expected to take place at Canso in 2025. However, because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the uncertainty the prolonged war caused, MLS terminated the agreement to launch Cyclone from Spaceport Nova Scotia in third quarter 2024.Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, MLS originally had planned to launch eight Cyclone-4M rockets annually. The launch site has two southward launch orbital inclination options:
equatorial low-Earth orbit launch, below 600 km in altitude, that will allow a payload up to 5000 kg also for $45 million USD.