Launching into a good time at Launch Canada 2024

The Launch Canada competition is Canada’s first-ever national rocketry challenge, open to students of all levels looking to achieve their amateur rocketry certification. The goal of the competition is to connect Canada’s rapidly growing amateur and student rocketry community with academia, industry, and government. This is done by creating rocket launch opportunities, fostering a diverse and inclusive community, and connecting next generation space professionals with innovative Canadian space companies.

This year’s Challenge, which took place in the City of Timmins and on the traditional lands of Mattagami First Nation, saw 400 participants launch a total of 26 rockets in the remote wilderness of Northern Ontario, including the competition’s first-ever all girl and high school team from the Bishop Strachan School in Toronto.

As part of the pre-event festivities, MDA Space partnered with Mattagami First Nation to offer local schools a ‘Rocket in a Box’ workshop for students. All tools and materials were provided to set the students up for successful rocket launches during the competition week.

The competition, which took place from August 17 to 23, started with a two-day exhibition where students attended presentations, engaged in outreach activities, networked with our team at the MDA Space booth, and participated in preliminary safety inspections and rocket evaluations.

On the second day, Amy MacLeod, MDA Space VP of Corporate Communications, presented her keynote speech, “Launching More than Rockets.”

“Thank you for doing what you’re doing,” said Amy. “I believe someone here is the one - a person or a team - who’s going to drop that launch cost from 10x to 100x less than it used to be. The one who is going to find the solution to the big problems facing our planet, climate change and debris, and the things we don’t have the answers for yet. Somewhere in this mix, are the people who are going to drive that next generation of space innovation and exploration, and we’re so proud at MDA Space to be part of this event.”

Building upon the sentiments of Amy’s speech, MDA Space Talent Acquisition team members Joy El Hajj and Gayané Elibekian talked to many students were excited to learn more about the space sector including MDA Space, our missions, and our student opportunities.

“At MDA Space, we’re always looking for up and coming talent.” Said Joy, “we’re excited to see these bright minds potentially join our team and help drive our mission forward!”

The competition week began with wind, rain, and cloudy skies, but nonetheless, the MDA Space Launch Pads, for safety’s sake set up an hour away outside of Timmins, stood ready as the skies cleared in the following days for a series of memorable launches.

As the rockets began to blast off, MDA Space Member of Mission Operations Technical Staff Sam Apputhurai captured the excitement of the moment: “During launch week, one team’s rocket had a plume of green, which was unique to see! I also worked with the students from Science Timmins and had so much fun helping them register and name their rockets while chatting about their interest in space. I even got to launch my first rocket!”

During her time at Launch Canada, Sam supported MDA Space’s outreach efforts. She worked with Mattagami First Nations youth and Science Timmins, who built their own small to medium powered rockets, and helped the groups set-up their rockets to ensure they were safely launched. 

For MDA Space Member of Systems Technical Staff Nyko Cooper, the magic of liftoff never fades, whether as a participant or a volunteer. “As a former student, the best part is liftoff; seeing the design you spent months (or even years) working on come to fruition. It doesn’t change from a volunteering standpoint, it’s magical. There were so many moments, from staying late to ensure all teams got the chance to load and launch their rockets, hosting closing ceremonies, and even spotting the albino moose, where I felt like I was part of a team again. It brought back so many great memories and created new ones. It was an absolute blast.”

As a former Launch Canada and Spaceport America (an international version of Launch Canada) participant, Nyko now acts as a volunteer with Launch Canada. He spent his time helping with the MDA Space booth and running the behind the scenes of the Launch Canada livestream. He was also a livestream host for moments in between launches and the MC at closing ceremonies.

Another rocket enthusiast and MDA Space Member of Safety & Mission Assurance Technical Staff, Mohi Khan, served as a Launch Control Officer, where he oversaw the safety and systematic launching of the rockets on the MDA Space solid and advanced rocket launch pads. For him, this year’s challenge brought back memories of the skills and lessons he learned as a former participant of Spaceport America and SpaceX’s Hyperloop Competition: “Having participated in these types of competitions as a student, I understand the amount of hard work and teamwork that goes into it, especially when things go off course. It’s a good learning experience to overcome those obstacles and to support each other as a team.”

MDA Space is proud to support such an impactful event, inspiring the next generation of space enthusiasts. We look forward to another great turn-out next year!