Not that long ago, the idea of spaceports was the stuff of science fiction. In 2025, by contrast, there’s literally a list of spaceports all over the U.S. on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website. The U.S. is far from the only country that’s building and maintaining spaceports, and another North American nation is making progress on a big step forward for its own interstellar ambitions.
That nation is Canada, and the facility in question is the Atlantic Spaceport Complex, a venture from the aerospace company NordSpace. Construction recently commenced on the project, located outside of St. Lawrence in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
NordSpace’s initial plans for the facility involve two distinct sites, one of which will be designed for suborbital missions and one of which will consist of two launchpads for NordSpace’s own Tundra launch vehicle as well as what the company describes as “international launch partners from the U.S. and Europe.”
“This is not just about building a launch site; it’s about building a future where Canada leads in space exploration, innovation, and security,” the company’s CEO, Rahul Goel, said in a statement. “The ASX is critical national infrastructure that will unlock assured access to space, ensuring our sovereignty and fostering economic growth for generations.”
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Jameel Janjua thought he’d blown his shot. Then the billionaire-backed space tourism industry took off.The Atlantic Spaceport Complex’s first task will involve providing support for NordSpace’s planned launch of the Taiga launcher. Earlier this year, Space.com’s Josh Dinner chronicled the efforts of NordSpace to launch its first mission; while Taiga is not designed to head into orbit, it will cross the Kármán line, a significant milestone for the company.
At the time, Goel told Space.com that the company’s goal was launching one mission per month by the end of the 2020s. That road has to begin somewhere; evidently, that beginning can be found near St. Lawrence.
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