CANSO, Nova Scotia — German rocket manufacturer Isar Aerospace has finalized a ten-year contract with Maritime Launch Services (MLS) to build a dedicated launch complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia. The landmark $112.5 million USD agreement directly follows the Canadian government’s selection of a German consortium to build the military’s next-generation submarine fleet.
Announced on July 7, 2026, during a NATO defense summit in Ankara, Turkey, the contract transitions a previous letter of intent into a binding commercial framework. Under the agreement, Isar Aerospace will manage the end-to-end space access chain for its two-stage Spectrum rocket, designed to deploy small- and medium-sized satellite constellations. MLS will supply the fully licensed launch site, including the launch pad, an assembly, integration, and testing (AIT) facility, a payload processing complex, and a launch operations center.
The partnership represents a massive step toward giving Canada domestic access to orbit.
“Canada is the next step in our roadmap to bring full end-to-end launch capability to sovereign nations, and we are proud to be doing it here…this makes launch capacity one of the most consequential bottlenecks in defense and intelligence today, and we are here to close it.”
– Alexandre Dalloneau, Vice President of Mission and Launch Operations at Isar Aerospace
The Submarine Connection
The financial engine behind the spaceport expansion stems from one of the largest defense procurement programs in Canadian history. Just one day prior to the spaceport announcement, on July 6, the Canadian government officially named German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) as its preferred supplier for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), an initiative to acquire up to 12 conventional diesel-electric attack submarines.
To sweeten its multi-billion-dollar naval bid, TKMS constructed a robust industrial offset package designed to inject money back into Canadian technology sectors. By partnering with Isar Aerospace, TKMS effectively tied the purchase of its Type 212CD submarines to the creation of a sovereign Canadian space industry.
As part of the deal, Isar Aerospace has established a domestic subsidiary, Isar Aerospace Canada Inc., and plans to begin construction on the Canso complex later this year. The base financial structure mandates that Isar pay MLS $3.75 million USD per quarter, though the agreement includes a 30-month fee-waiver period beginning after the first year of the contract.
“By combining Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle, Spectrum, with Spaceport Nova Scotia’s licensed infrastructure, we are creating the conditions for reliable orbital launch services from Canada,”
– Stephen Matier, President and Chief Executive of MLS.
The spaceport expects to host initial orbital launches in 2028, with plans to rapidly scale operations up to 40 launches annually by 2029.
Building a Dual-Use Defense Hub
The arrival of Isar Aerospace rounds out a rapid series of investments positioning Spaceport Nova Scotia as a critical national security asset for both Canada and its NATO allies.
In March 2026, the Canadian military signed its own 10-year, $200 million CAD ($141 million USD) lease agreement with MLS for a dedicated, state-run pad at the facility. Simultaneously, the Department of National Defence awarded $8.3 million CAD each to three domestic rocket startups; Canada Rocket Company, NordSpace, and Reaction Dynamics, to accelerate the engineering of homegrown small-satellite launch vehicles.
With three of its four planned launch pads already fully allocated to Isar, the Canadian military, and Reaction Dynamics, Spaceport Nova Scotia is transitioning from an ambitious regional project into a crucial link for international defense.
By pairing European launch hardware with Canada’s strategic Atlantic coastline, the site will soon offer seamless, rapid-response orbital access over open waters; perfect for deploying the critical observation and communications networks that modern militaries rely on.