Canada has signed a C$20 million, 10-year agreement giving the Canadian Armed Forces and its partners access to NordSpace’s Atlantic Spaceport Complex in Newfoundland and Labrador. National Defence announced the agreement on October 21, 2026, identifying launches and research and development as the activities it will support.
The agreement adds a second spaceport relationship to the department’s launch program, following its March agreement with Maritime Launch Services. It concerns access to infrastructure; the announcement does not identify a particular satellite launch purchased under the arrangement.
At St. Lawrence, NordSpace is developing the physical facilities needed to handle launch vehicles and their supporting equipment. Its October 15 construction announcement described a six-kilometer road serving the planned SLC-01 orbital launch area. The road is designed for the company’s Tundra light-lift and Tempest medium-lift vehicles.
NordSpace targets completion of this construction phase in spring 2027. Installation of operating infrastructure would follow, including two orbital pads, mission control, propellant storage, communications equipment, and vehicle integration buildings. The company’s stated orbital launch target is no earlier than 2028.
The distinction between construction and launch operations explains the agreement’s immediate setting. Roads and integration facilities provide the means to move, assemble, and prepare hardware; propellant systems and launch equipment support the eventual flight campaign. New Space Economy’s account of Phase 2 construction describes how those activities fit into the site’s development sequence.
For National Defence, the signed arrangement establishes a decade-long access relationship during that development. For NordSpace, the documented next work at the site remains the construction and installation program required to support orbital launches.
