Canada Rocket Company (CRC) broke ground in London, Ontario, on 1 October on a planned $30-million static rocket engine test facility. Announcing the project that day, CRC described it as Canada’s first large-scale facility of its kind.

The Jeremy Hansen Test Facility is named after the Canadian Artemis II astronaut. It will occupy 50 acres leased from the Greater London International Airport Authority, combining an engine test area with a 12,000-square-foot office and shop building. The building will contain administrative offices and a fabrication area for engineering, assembly and test preparation.

The test area will accommodate up to three vertical and horizontal static-firing stands. These will be capable of testing engines that produce more than one meganewton, equivalent to 224,809 pounds-force, of thrust. Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Hugh Kolias said the capability places Canada in “a small group of less than 10 countries worldwide.”

CRC’s launch vehicle will use its own E-1 methane-oxygen engine, with the company targeting a payload of up to 12,500 kilograms to Sun-synchronous orbit. CRC says it is developing its own engines because it cannot affordably source them from a third party.

The payload and launch targets have changed since March. At that time, CRC outlined a light-lift vehicle that would evolve into a medium-lift rocket capable of carrying up to 6,500 kilograms to orbit by the early 2030s. Kolias then identified 2034 as the target for sovereign medium-lift launch.

The company now aims for the medium-lift rocket’s first orbital launch in 2032. It plans to spend the London facility’s $30-million budget over three years.

CRC’s March statement accompanied an $8.3-million grant from the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program. Through its Launch the North challenge, DND awarded $8.3 million each to three companies: CRC, NordSpace and Reaction Dynamics.

CRC employs 32 people and has raised $22 million from government and private investors, predominantly Canadian sources. Kolias estimates that developing a Canadian launch capability will cost about $500 million over eight years.

The company expects the London site to create approximately 40 skilled jobs over the next 18 months. Across its wider rocket development program, CRC projects roughly 1,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in new investment over the next decade. It is also developing training and workforce partnerships with Western University and Fanshawe College.

Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, released this year, identifies space as a high-value sector. Kolias said that designation was the “trigger point” for starting CRC. London Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Kapil Lakhotia said the city already hosts more than 40 defence and aerospace companies.

CRC says it is working with London International Airport, regulators and the local community as planning proceeds. It plans to hold a public consultation in October, with the date and location still to be announced. The company expects the facility to be fully operational in 2028.

For the separate development of Canadian launch-site infrastructure, see Spaceport Nova Scotia’s work with Isar Aerospace and the Maritime Launch Services profile.