Canada Bets $2.7B on Homegrown Rockets to Rival Starlink
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Space
- Canada Space
- Rockets
- Starlink
Ottawa's 2026 budget expands the Launch the North program with $2.7 billion over five years to build medium-lift rockets and a Starlink rival.
Ottawa Doubles Down on Domestic Launch
Canada's federal government announced in its 2026 budget that it will expand its Launch the North initiative, committing $2.7 billion over the next five years to defence and space priorities, according to Skies Mag.
The money moves the program beyond its first phase, in which three firms — Canada Rocket Company, NordSpace and Reaction Dynamics Lab — each received $8.3 million to develop light-lift launch capability.
The new funding aims to establish medium-lift capability for payloads as heavy as 20,000 kilograms, with a competition expected for the next phase of funds.
Why Medium-Lift Changes the Game
Canada Rocket Company founder and CEO Hugh Kolias told Skies Mag that anything smaller than the higher end of the medium-lift range doesn't actually address the sovereignty problem or attract enough investment.
His company is targeting payloads above 13,000 kilograms, which Skies Mag reports are needed to establish Telesat Lightspeed, a domestic alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink internet service.
Kolias argued a Starlink-equivalent constellation matters for sovereignty and the military, for supplying allies, and commercially for providing high-speed internet to rural areas — an annual market he estimates at about $35 billion.
The Starlink Competition It Would Challenge
The sovereignty pitch lands as Starlink's capacity keeps climbing.
Seeking Alpha reports that SpaceX's upcoming Starship Flight 15 is scheduled to deploy 26 Starlink V3 satellites, each designed for one terabit of network capacity, with combined capacity the company estimates equals roughly 10 Falcon 9 launches of Starlink V2 Mini satellites.
A Canadian government signal of long-term demand, Kolias said, is what gives his firm and its investors the confidence to keep growing and compete for that kind of global market.
Jobs, GDP and a 2032 Launch Target
Canada Rocket Company projects its programs alone could create about 1,800 full-time jobs and $16 billion in gross domestic product over the next 10 years, according to Skies Mag.
The company has grown to more than 40 people in under a year, repatriating 10 Canadians from abroad in what Kolias called a brain gain strategy, and is trying to raise $1 billion in public and private funds, with plans for an initial medium-lift launch by 2032.
He cautioned the company has not been guaranteed access to the next tranche of spending, noting that procurement is the word private industry uses most.