Latest updates:
- Launch delayed following ignition issue.
- Launch window closed at 7 p.m. NT, likely moving launch to September.
- Issue likely caused by a software glitch, CEO says.
The launch of Canada’s first-ever commercial rocket has been scrapped for Friday following an ignition issue just seconds from a scheduled take-off.
The launch was to be a test of NordSpace’s single-engine rocket, called Taiga — a six-metre tall rocket created using 3D-printed metal. The launch was originally scheduled for Monday, but was hampered by the weather.
After initial tests and the rocket’s tanks successfully pressurizing, an ignition issue in the final part of the process hampered the launch. There were 58 seconds to ignition when the process was held, according to the timer on NordSpace’s livestream of the launch.
“We got to the absolute last step. We pressed the button, ready for launch, 70 pages of checklists and all that, hours and hours of work. And it looks like it might have been, like, a small software glitch or something related to us detecting a misfire in the ignition system,” NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel said Friday evening.
The launch was already delayed on Friday morning due to a connection issue with a nitrogen tank, according to the company. NordSpace said the rocket entered safe mode around that time when a generator tripped and stopped supplying compressed air.
The launch will not proceed on Friday, due to the rocket’s launch window closing at 7 p.m. NT.
Goel said he felt bad to under-deliver for the thousands of people who tuned in both in-person in St. Lawrence, N.L. and around the world on the livestream. Now that the launch window has closed, he said NordSpace is likely looking at trying another launch in September.
“We really wanted to put on a good show for them. Even though we were trying to do this quiet, but everyone got so excited about this … we’ll try to put on good show again pretty soon,” he said.
“It’s definitely disappointing. But again, we have a resilient team.”
When the launch does finally happen, it will be suborbital, meaning the rocket won’t orbit Earth, and will only be in the air for about a minute before it splashes into the Atlantic Ocean.
Speaking with CBC News in January, Goel said St. Lawrence serves as a top location for a commercial space launch because of its ideal position to…
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