Canadian small sat launch company Reaction Dynamics

[ecarfan]

So many small sat launch companies…

Most will fail. I am continually surprised by how many startups there are trying to enter the market. Now there is Reaction Dynamics in Canada. Has plans to build a launch site in Nova Scotia. Claims to have a new design for a “hybrid” rocket engine but their website provides zero information about it. It’s almost comical; click the “Technology” link on the site and discover that a password is required for access. News articles like this one in the Toronto Star quote the company as saying that it has “solved the problem” of a hybrid rocket providing high performance for an extended duration and of shutting it down and restarting it multiple times. No mention of reusability.

A hybrid rocket uses a solid propellant and a liquid oxidizer and can be readily restarted. The solid propellant cannot readily be refilled like a liquid propellant tank can.

Given the large number of small sat launch companies, if Reaction Dynamics cannot build an easily reusable rocket they don’t seem competitive to me.

 

[ecarfan]

From the latest Ars Technica Rocket Report newsletter:

Canadian spaceport names a launch tenant. A spaceport under development in Nova Scotia, Canada, this week named the first launch company that will use the facility. Reaction Dynamics, which is based in Quebec, plans to launch its small hybrid-fueled rocket as early as 2024, the Toronto Star reports. "Canada’s first launch is going to include a Canadian launch site, a Canadian launch vehicle—Reaction Dynamics’—and Canadian satellites," said spaceport developer Stephen Matier of Maritime Launch Services.

There are a few caveats ... I should probably note that the Nova Scotia spaceport has not actually been built yet, and there is some local opposition to the project. Also, this is the first time I've heard of Reaction Dynamics. And with absolutely no disrespect intended, the founder of the company, Bachar Elzein, appears to have started the company after working as a research assistant at Polytechnique Montréal. And according to his LinkedIn page, the company's "propulsion test lead" seems to have worked as a ski instructor for two years before joining the company. So 2024? Maybe not.

Ouch.