Ready to launch: Canada enters the space age
6/16/202626 min
Despite Canada’s contributions to space technology and science, it lags behind other G7 nations in rocket launching capabilities. But that’s now changing – with federal investment and private business teaming up to eventually send spacecraft into orbit. It signals a growing political and economic interest in Canada.
The Globe’s science reporter Ivan Semeniuk attended one of the recent launches in Nova Scotia. He’s on the show to explain the building up of spaceports, why the government is turning attention to space and how this fits into a larger idea of Canadian sovereignty.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsIvan Semeniuk· Guest0:00
[gentle music] So last Wednesday, I found myself standing on a gravel lot looking out over a kind of rocky peninsula with, you can imagine, kind of straggly stands of evergreen trees. Very, uh, maritime, kind of northern maritime, uh, setting.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:17
Ivan Semeniuk is The Globe's science reporter. He's describing a gathering of about 100 people in Nova Scotia at a spaceport. That's right, think airport, but for space. Ivan was there to watch a rocket launch.
Ivan Semeniuk· Guest0:33
It's a far cry from, you know, Cape Canaveral or other places where, where thousands of rockets have been launched, and there's kind of, you know, people are used to the routine. At the same time, it shares some of that same sense of anticipation and, you know, a big event is about to happen. People start, uh, getting, you know, lining up, getting their cameras ready. We were about a kilometer or so away, maybe 1,200 meters away from the launch pad. And then, you know, uh, you can start to hear the countdown over the intercom. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six. Everyone's getting quiet. Four, three, two. And then you see the- One, zero ... spark of ignition and some of the smoke coming from the rocket. This is a solid fuel rocket, so, you know, again, ve- very quick and, and up it goes. [rocket roaring] This went up like an arrow and was gone in a matter of seconds. Holy moly.