NordSpace wins $1M CSA grant to build Canadian satellite thruster

NordSpace has secured a $1 million Canadian Space Agency contribution to develop Zephyr-EP, a sovereign electric propulsion system for small satellites. The project is meant to reduce Canada’s dependence on foreign suppliers as the company builds out its launch and spacecraft business from Ontario and Newfoundland.

Why it matters: - The Canadian Space Agency funding backs a domestic alternative in a category where Canada has no commercial small-satellite electric propulsion supplier. - Zephyr-EP is meant to support sovereign Canadian low Earth orbit constellations that can launch, maneuver and deorbit without relying on export-restricted foreign systems. - The project also strengthens a supply chain for dual-use commercial and defence satellites in Earth observation, communications and defence.

What happened: - NordSpace Corp. announced it received a $1 million contribution from the Canadian Space Agency under the Space Technology Development Program (STDP, AO10). - The money will help develop Zephyr-EP, described as the first commercial sovereign Canadian electric propulsion system for small satellites. - The announcement follows NordSpace’s first satellite launch, Terra Nova, which used the company’s Athena bus and is still operating nominally in orbit. - NordSpace said the CSA contribution anchors a broader company investment in Canadian electric propulsion design and manufacturing.

The details: - Zephyr-EP is a Hall effect thruster built to use either xenon or krypton propellant. - The thruster is designed for long operational life, interplanetary transfers, constellation economics and Canadian additive manufacturing of critical parts. - Zephyr-EP can be clustered, allowing multiple units to support larger spacecraft that need higher total thrust. - NordSpace says the Zephyr line will also include a Zephyr-EP50 variant for microsatellites, a Zephyr-EP500 variant for larger platforms and a Zephyr-CH chemical thruster. - The electric propulsion line has been in development since 2025. - Zephyr-EP is being developed at NordSpace’s Space Systems Lab in Markham, Ontario. - The lab includes thermal vacuum, vibration and ISO 5 clean room facilities. - NordSpace says the lab can produce up to one small satellite per month. - The electric propulsion hardware flown on Terra Nova was a smaller NordSpace-built pathfinder article that validated in-house design and build capability. - NordSpace says Zephyr-EP builds on that work with a larger performance class and the operational life needed for constellation-scale missions. - The company says the propulsion effort draws on experience from its launch systems program, including the Hadfield-150 orbital-class liquid rocket engine. - NordSpace is working with Dr. C. Malardier-Jugroot, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada. - The company says the research supports the propulsion physics behind Zephyr-EP. - Zephyr-EP is intended for both commercial and defence satellite missions. - The program is also aimed at the broader Canadian small-satellite market, including operators in Earth observation, communications and defence.

Between the lines: - The project is about more than one thruster; it is part of NordSpace’s push to build an end-to-end Canadian space stack, from propulsion to spacecraft buses to launch. - NordSpace frames domestic electric propulsion as a missing piece that limits a sovereign Canadian constellation strategy. - The company is positioning itself as a prime contractor across multiple propulsion domains, from liquid-fuel launch engines to in-space electric and chemical systems. - NordSpace also says the program will create highly skilled Canadian aerospace jobs in a segment where the country has had no commercial capability. - The company says every spacecraft bus it produces going forward will include a Zephyr-EP, starting with Athena and extending to the Aquila bus now in development.

What’s next: - NordSpace plans to integrate Zephyr-EP across future spacecraft buses and constellation missions. - The company says the thruster will support launches from the Atlantic Spaceport Complex using the Tundra light-lift vehicle and the planned Tempest medium-lift launcher. - NordSpace continues to develop the Aquila bus and its broader launch and spacecraft portfolio. - The company’s stated goal is to support Canadian satellites launching on Canadian rockets from Canadian soil.

The bottom line: - The CSA award gives NordSpace a public-sector boost to build a domestic satellite propulsion capability that Canada does not currently have. That could matter as sovereign space ambitions, defence needs and LEO constellation deployment accelerate.