Canada Announces Interim Commercial Space Launch Program Strategy

Canada has announced an interim strategy on how it will enable commercial space launch activities in Canada that are safe, secure and environmentally sustainable, under existing legislation and regulations while the government works with federal departments and agencies to develop a permanent robust regulatory requirements, safety standards and licensing conditions necessary for commercial space launch in Canada.

The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, was joined by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Annie Koutrakis, Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, the Honourable Marc Garneau, and the President of the Canadian Space Agency, Lisa Campbell, to announce the Government of Canada’s intention to support commercial space launch activities in Canada.

The Minister of Transport will establish an interdepartmental review process to leverage expertise from other departments and agencies to ensure that any launch is considered and approved in a manner consistent with domestic legislation, international treaties and conventions, and national security and foreign policy interests of Canada.

This interim approach is expected to last approx. 3 years.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for more updates to this article.