Maritime Launch Services has agreed to sell a stake to Montreal-based Reaction Dynamics Lab Inc. and collaborate on an all-Canadian orbital launch set for the summer of 2028.

MLS, which has built a commercial rocket launch pad in Canso, N.S., issued a statement Tuesday saying the agreements, which have a total value of $1.7 million, will lead to a rocket designed and built in Canada being fired into orbit from Canada for the first time. The two companies began collarating with each other last year. 

Under the agreements, Reaction Dynamics will buy $1.03 million of MLS shares over the next three years and in return will receive a discount on using the Canso facility to launch its orbital rocket.

“This is more than an investment or commercial launch agreement — it affirms that Canada’s space launch capability is real and ready,” said MLS President and CEO Stephen Matier in the statement. “With Reaction Dynamics, Canada is joining the ranks of our NATO allies and other nations that can launch their satellites to orbit, from their soil, on their terms.”

MLS went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2021 and finalized the land lease for its Spaceport Nova Scotia facility in Canso a year later. In August 2023, the company completed its first suborbital launch from the Canso facility a collaboration with York University students.

Reaction Dynamics manufactures hybrid rocket engines and launch vehicles, focusing on small satellite deployment. It has developed proprietary hybrid rocket fuel and engine technology that it says simplifies design and reduces costs.

Under the agreements announced this week, both companies have committed to a multi-year facility usage agreement granting the Reaction Dynamics project the exclusive use of a designated launchpad at Spaceport Nova Scotia. They intend to collaborate on regular launch operations, assuming the first orbital attempt is successful.

The details of the share sale call for Reaction to buy about $85,000 of new MLS shares on Sept. 30, and make similar purchases in each of 11 quarters after that. It will pay five cents a share in the first tranche and pay a price based on average market prices in the subsequent purchases. MLS shares on Tuesday rose 29 percent to 9 cents, giving the company a market capitalization of $42.2 million.

“Securing this Pathfinder launch is Canada’s bridge to true sovereign launch,” said Bachar Elzein, CEO of Reaction Dynamics. “With Aurora-1 flying this winter and our Aurora-8 orbital system coming online, Canada is not only entering the launch market—it is shaping the future of rapid, distributed, and allied-ready space access.”