The Ukrainian and Canadian space agencies have signed a joint statement on partnership in the Canadian city of Halifax and performed a groundbreaking ceremony at the site for the creation of the spaceport.
The Ukrainian embassy in Canada announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
The event was attended by the Ukrainian Space Agency’s head Volodymyr Taftai, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Sean Fraser (a member of the parliament from the province of Nova Scotia), the Canadian Space Agency’s President Lisa Campbell, and the Province of Nova Scotia’s Minister of Economic Development Susan Corkum-Greek.
The official unveiling of the model of the Launch Control Center, which will be named after the Pivdennyi Design Bureau’s former head Oleksandr Dehtiariov, and a tour of the spaceport’s construction site were also expected to take place during the Ukrainian delegation’s visit.
The Ukrainian-Canadian joint project to create a spaceport in Nova Scotia is unique for both countries.
Maritime Launch Services, a Canadian company, is implementing the project, which provides for the use of the Ukrainian-made Cyclone 4M launch vehicle.
According to Maritime Launch Services’ President and CEO Steve Matier, the space launch market is growing steadily and it is expected to grow from USD 400 billion to USD 1 trillion in the future.
"The implementation of the project will create the preconditions for long-term Ukrainian-Canadian cooperation in the space industry and utilization of the production capacities of Ukrainian enterprises," the statement said.
As the CFTS reported earlier, Ukraine and Canada planned to begin the construction of the spaceport at the end of 2021. "Ukraine and Canada have resolved all bureaucratic issues and the construction of a spaceport for launching spacecraft on Ukrainian-made Cyclone 4M carrier rockets will begin in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia at the end of the year," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Industries Oleh Uruskyi said in October.
