Nova Construction among companies picked to help build Canso, N.S. spaceport

HALIFAX—The Nova Scotia company planning to build Canada’s first commercial spaceport announced May 26 some of the firms it has chosen to design and construct its proposed launch pad.

Maritime Launch Services says it picked Strum Consulting, Stantec, Nova Construction and St. Francis Xavier University, among other organizations, to help it launch satellites into orbit.

“We want to get to the ground breaking and the jobs associated with that as early as we can, this year if at all possible,” Stephen Matier, president and CEO of Maritime Launch Services, said in an interview Wednesday.

Stantec, a global consulting company with offices in Nova Scotia, will lead the spaceport design team, and Antigonish-based Nova Construction will be involved with building roads and with other civil construction work at the launch site, located near Canso, in northeastern Nova Scotia.

St. Francis Xavier has been chosen to implement an air-monitoring program for the spaceport with the help of the university’s FluxLab, led by Dr. David Risk.

Matier said Maritime Launch Services plans to keep as much of the building process as possible within Nova Scotia and Canada.

The company is to host an industry day in the coming months to recruit people from the Guysborough, N.S., municipality to work on the project, and Matier said up to 125 will be involved in building the spaceport. He said the company’s workforce could grow up to 250 people once the launch pad is operational.

Maritime Launch Services, he said, is aiming to have the project ready by the end of 2023.

Nova Scotia’s Environment Department in March granted the company an 18-month extension to begin construction on the spaceport.