NordSpace, a space company, has postponed its attempt to launch Canada’s first commercial rocket, the Taiga, from St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. The decision came after facing multiple setbacks earlier this week. Initially planned for Thursday, the launch was rescheduled following an assessment by the company.
This delay followed a series of unsuccessful launch attempts by NordSpace. On Tuesday, the first launch was aborted due to a small boat near the launch site. A subsequent attempt was halted just before liftoff due to an issue with smoke and fire near the rocket’s base. The following day, another launch was thwarted by an anomaly on the launch pad that caused a minor fire.
In a statement released on Thursday, NordSpace revealed that a discrepancy in propellant quality between its Ontario test facility and the Newfoundland spaceport was identified after a thorough 15-hour review. Despite this issue, the company assured that all systems, including the rocket and ground infrastructure, were functioning normally and that safety measures were in place.
Although NordSpace plans to rectify the problem and return to the launch site soon, this setback adds to previous delays experienced in late August when an ignition problem occurred just 58 seconds before liftoff. When the launch eventually takes place, it will be a suborbital flight, lasting approximately one minute before the rocket splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean.
