NordSpace opens RF-1 to scale Canadian rocket production

NordSpace has opened Rocket Factory 1 in Markham, Ontario, as a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing campus for orbital launch vehicles and satellite systems. The site expands the company’s domestic launch footprint as NordSpace moves from research into production and prepares for light- and medium-lift rockets built for sovereign Canadian launch. Why it matters: - NordSpace says RF-1 is the production hub for a Canadian launch program designed to keep payload design, build, launch and operations under Canadian control. - The campus is meant to cut schedule and cost risk by internalizing more of the launch supply chain. - NordSpace says the site supports sovereign, ITAR-free launch services for defense and commercial customers. - The facility is expected to add advanced manufacturing jobs in Ontario and help re-shore space-industry talent. What happened: - NordSpace opened Rocket Factory 1 at 75 Clegg Road in Markham, Ontario, on June 16, 2026. - The 60,000-square-foot campus marks a 10x expansion from NordSpace’s previous headquarters. - NordSpace says RF-1 marks its shift from years of research and development into a production-focused industrial model. - The company says the campus is a Controlled Goods Program facility and will be fully operational over the coming months. The details: - RF-1 is built to host up to 255 employees. - The campus consolidates NordSpace’s Advanced Manufacturing for Aerospace Lab, Space Systems Lab, ISO-class clean rooms, propulsion, structures and avionics test facilities, a mission control centre, and subtractive, additive and composite manufacturing capabilities. - NordSpace says the capabilities are primarily for internal operations but can be made available selectively to customers for specialized component production or collaborative R&D. - RF-1 is engineered to produce two Tundra light-lift orbital launch vehicles at the same time, or one Tundra+ medium-lift vehicle. - Each Tundra can deliver 1,100 kg to low Earth orbit. - Tundra+ is designed to deliver 2,000+ kg to low Earth orbit. - NordSpace says scaled production of Tundra+ will happen at a separate facility. - Tundra+ uses the same Hadfield-150 engine architecture and core tooling as Tundra. - NordSpace says Hadfield-150 is a patent-pending orbital-class liquid rocket engine line, and first test-unit components are already in production. - RF-1 is also designed to produce up to 10 small satellites at once. - The satellite work builds on the Space Systems Lab established in 2025 and the Terra Nova dual-use demonstration satellite scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Transporter mission later this year. - Larger satellite platforms are in the design phase. - NordSpace is expanding metal additive manufacturing and advanced composites capabilities to support production scaling. - The company says additional large-format metal additive manufacturing systems will create the largest known single metal additive manufacturing machine in Canada. - New automated fiber placement machines are arriving this summer and are described as unique in Canada for their combined size and type. - Those machines are intended to make cryogenic-compatible composite structures at orbital launch-vehicle scale. - The capabilities will support Hadfield-150 engines, turbopumps, pressure vessels, primary structures and tankage for Tundra and Tundra+, plus upper-stage and satellite hardware. - RF-1 also supports a $8 million Canadian consortium project involving NordSpace, Miltera Machining Research Corp., Pegmatis Inc., Prime Powders Inc. and Indigenous-owned Bear Paw Manufacturing. - Next Generation Manufacturing Canada backed that consortium through the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program. - NordSpace says RF-1 anchors the AI-powered hybrid additive-subtractive manufacturing line at the center of the consortium. - The company says RF-1 operationalizes the Canadian government’s Defence Industrial Strategy commitments to sovereign manufacturing, Canadian-owned intellectual property and resilient domestic supply chains. Between the lines: - RF-1 gives NordSpace a physical base for a vertically integrated model that tries to keep more engineering, manufacturing, testing and mission operations in-house. - The opening also signals a push to build a domestic launch stack before scaling to larger vehicles and more satellite work. - NordSpace is positioning itself as a supplier for defense-adjacent missions as well as commercial launch customers. - CEO Rahul Goel framed the move as a sovereignty play, arguing that control over manufacturing, talent, IP, supply chains and test facilities is necessary to preserve launch capability. What’s next: - NordSpace plans to start full operation of RF-1 over the coming months. - The company has acquired land for Rocket Factory 2, a 200,000-square-foot facility for Tempest, its reusable medium-lift launch vehicle previously called Titan. - Construction on RF-2 is expected to begin later this year, with operational readiness planned in phases in the coming years. - Tempest is targeting 5,000+ kg to low Earth orbit and will build on experience from Tundra and Tundra+ production. - A portion of RF-1 will be dedicated to development and launches of the Taiga pathfinder rocket. - NordSpace says Taiga work will help train talent and test technologies for Tundra in flight. - Area 66, the company’s 50-acre propulsion test range in Eastern Ontario, is adding the Blackhawk and Nightfox test cells this summer. - Blackhawk is scheduled to be ready later this summer ahead of what NordSpace calls the largest rocket engine test in Canadian history. - The Atlantic Spaceport Complex in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador, continues construction across Space Launch Complex 01 and Space Launch Complex 02. - NordSpace says new launch services agreements for ASX customers will be announced in the coming weeks. - More information is available at NordSpace’s website or by email at contact@nordspace.com. The bottom line: - NordSpace is turning a single campus opening into a broader bid to own Canada’s full launch chain, from engine development and satellite manufacturing to test ranges and spaceport operations.