作为唯一一个没有自主发射能力的G7国家，加拿大迫切希望拥有一枚本国制造的火箭。
As the only G7 nation without its own launch capabilities, Canada is eager to have a Canadian-made rocket.
少数加拿大公司正竞相尽快为该国实现自主进入太空的能力——与此同时，一些SpaceX客户担心，这家行业巨头可能很快会减少提供入轨发射服务。
A handful of Canadian companies are racing to give the country its own way to space as quickly as possible — at the same time that some SpaceX customers worry the industry giant could soon give fewer rides into orbit.
然而，这些火箭公司必须在紧张的截止日期和不断变化的政府优先事项下完成一项耗资巨大的任务，这使得通往太空的道路绝非易事。
But the rocket companies are working to complete an expensive task under a tight deadline and ever-changing government priorities, making the journey to space anything but simple.
由于加拿大自身无法发射火箭，该国客户——无论是私营企业还是政府机构——都依赖外部力量将卫星送入轨道。这些发射方通常是美国公司，尤其是SpaceX。根据加拿大行业出版物SpaceQ的数据，2025年发射的12颗加拿大卫星全部由SpaceX负责。
Because Canada has no ability to launch rockets itself, customers in this country — both private companies and governments — are dependent on outside forces to put their satellites in orbit. They're often American ones — namely SpaceX, which launched all 12 Canadian satellites sent up in 2025, according to Canadian industry publication SpaceQ.
加拿大太空出版物SpaceQ的创始人马克·布歇表示，这些技术至关重要。它们不仅支撑着电信服务，还用于军事领域，例如威胁探测，以及地球观测，例如野火追踪。
And those pieces of technology are critical, says Marc Boucher, founder of the Canadian space publication SpaceQ. They power telecommunications, as well as military uses like threat detection, and for earth observation like wildfire tracking.
布歇指出，如果加拿大无法掌控自己的发射能力，人们担心外国实体可能会拒绝发射加拿大的技术设备。
If Canada doesn't control its own launches, Boucher says the fear is that foreign entities could refuse to launch Canadian tech.
主权解决方案：加拿大政府在其2月份的国防工业战略中将太空能力列为关键主权能力，并于4月提出了一项立法。如果该法案通过，政府将有权批准在加拿大境内进行火箭发射。
A sovereign solution The Canadian government named space as a key sovereign capability in its February Defence Industrial Strategy and introduced legislation in April that would allow the government to authorize launches from Canadian soil if passed.
近几个月来，相关资金也已陆续到位。作为一项旨在2028年前实现轻型运载火箭能力的多年期竞赛项目的一部分，有三家从事火箭研发的加拿大公司各获得了830万加元的资助。
Funding has flowed in recent months, too, including $8.3 million each for three Canadian companies working on rockets, as part of a multi-year contest aimed at achieving light-lift rocket capabilities by 2028.
NordSpace 是其中一家公司。该公司成立于 2022 年，专注于制造卫星和机器人航天技术，以及用于将卫星送入太空的发射台和火箭。其于 2025 年进行的首次亚轨道火箭试射未能成功，但该公司表示计划很快再次尝试，可能就在几周内。
NordSpace — a company launched in 2022, focused on building satellites and robotic space technologies as well as the launch pad and rocket to get them off the ground — was one of them. Its first suborbital rocket test launch attempt in 2025 was unsuccessful, but the company says it plans to try again soon, possibly within weeks.
Reaction Dynamics 是另一家公司。自 2017 年以来，该公司一直在研发一种独特的发动机设计。
Reaction Dynamics was another. That company has been working on a unique engine design since 2017.
NordSpace 和 Reaction Dynamics 都致力于在 2028 年前将火箭送入轨道，以符合政府的既定目标。
Both NordSpace and Reaction Dynamics are working to get rockets to orbit by 2028, in line with the government's target.
加拿大火箭公司（Canada Rocket Company）是最新加入的参与者，也是这三家公司中的第三家。
Canada Rocket Company — the newest player — rounds out the three.
首席执行官 Hugh Kolias 于去年年底创立了加拿大火箭公司，目标是建造一枚中型运载火箭——这一类别的火箭能够一次性将数十颗卫星送入近地轨道，并由九台使用甲氧燃料的发动机提供动力。
CEO Hugh Kolias founded Canada Rocket Company late last year with the goal of building a medium-lift rocket — a middle-size category that can carry potentially dozens of satellites into low Earth orbit at once — powered by nine methalox-fuelled engines.
该公司已聘请了数十名工程师，其中许多人来自 SpaceX 和 Blue Origin 等顶尖火箭企业，并正在安大略省伦敦市建造一个耗资 3000 万美元的测试设施，以助力实现这一目标。
The company has hired dozens of engineers — many of them from top rocket firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin — and is building a $30-million test facility in London, Ont., to help meet that goal.
建造这样一枚火箭需要大量时间和反复测试，首次发射的目标时间要到 2032 年。
It will take time and lots of testing to build such a vessel, and the target for a first launch isn't until 2032.
Kolias 表示，除了政府资金外，他的公司还吸引了 2200 万美元的私人投资。
Kolias says his firm has attracted $22 million in private investment on top of the government cash.
他以及 Boucher 都认为，资金短缺长期以来一直是加拿大面临的一大障碍，使得本已昂贵且复杂的火箭制造任务变得更加艰难。
He and Boucher both say funding has long been an obstacle in Canada that's made the already expensive and difficult task of building rockets extra challenging.
Boucher 说：“我们拥有必要的技术能力……因为加拿大培养出了许多优秀的工程师。但我们一直缺乏的是资金。”
"We have the skillsets … because Canada produces a lot of good engineers. But where we've been lacking is funding," Boucher said.
不过，随着私人和公共资金的涌入，Kolias 对局势的逆转持乐观态度——尽管其他一些首席执行官和专家的态度则更为谨慎。
But with private and public funds flowing, Kolias is optimistic that tide has turned — even if some other CEOs and experts are more cautiously hopeful.
“飞吧，猎鹰9号！”与此同时，埃隆·马斯克表示，随着SpaceX向名为“星舰”的更大运载工具过渡，该公司最终计划逐步缩减猎鹰9号火箭的规模。这一消息让依赖该公司将卫星送入太空的客户感到担忧，但对新兴火箭制造商而言，却可能是一个机遇。
Fly away, Falcon 9 At the same time, SpaceX plans to eventually scale back its Falcon 9 rocket as it transitions to a bigger vessel called Starship, according to Elon Musk — a worry for customers who rely on the company to get their satellites to space, but a potential opportunity for emerging rocket makers.
SpaceX可重复使用的中型运载火箭猎鹰9号，不仅负责将公司自己的星链卫星送入太空，也收费为其他公司的卫星提供发射服务。
SpaceX's reusable, medium-lift Falcon 9 transports the company's own Starlink satellites to space, as well as those of other companies at a cost.
据报道，随着公司向新火箭转型，SpaceX已经开始拒绝那些希望在2028年之后使用猎鹰9号发射卫星的客户。对于依赖SpaceX共享发射计划的小型企业而言，这一点尤其令人担忧。该计划允许多家公司在单次发射中各将一到两颗卫星送上太空。
The company has reportedly started turning away satellite customers looking to launch on the Falcon 9 past 2028 as it shifts to the new rocket. That's especially concerning for smaller players who rely on SpaceX's rideshare program, which allows multiple companies to send up one or two satellites each on a shared rocket.
加拿大卫星通信公司Kepler已使用猎鹰9号发射了其33颗卫星中的大部分。
Canadian satellite communications company Kepler has launched the majority of its 33 satellites on the Falcon 9.
Kepler首席执行官米纳·米特里同时也是加拿大火箭公司的顾问。他表示，预计SpaceX的竞争对手——包括他已确保未来合作机会的火箭实验室——将能够承接部分需求。但小型企业可能会因共享发射机会减少而受到冲击。
CEO Mina Mitry, who is an adviser to Canada Rocket Company, says he expects SpaceX competitors — including Rocket Lab, which he's already secured a future ride with — will be able to take up some of that demand. But smaller players could feel the pinch of less rideshare access.
米特里说：“如果你打算以试验性方式发射一颗、两颗或三颗卫星，现在进入市场的门槛已经显著提高了。这对整个行业来说是个大问题。”他还补充道，猎鹰9号的逐步退出，更凸显了拥有加拿大本土火箭制造商的重要性。
"If you're looking to launch one, two, three satellites on an experimental basis, your barrier to entry now has grown significantly," Mitry said. "That's a huge problem for the industry." The Falcon wind-down only makes having a Canadian rocket maker more important, Mitry adds.
而科利亚斯公司（Kolias）的中型运载火箭瞄准的正是猎鹰9号所覆盖的市场。因此，该公司希望加拿大火箭公司能够在SpaceX转向更大的星舰后，占据其留下的部分市场份额。
And with its medium-lift rocket aimed at the same market as the Falcon 9, Kolias is hoping Canada Rocket Company can capture some of the market SpaceX leaves behind once it moves on to the bigger Starship vessel.
距离首次发射仍有很长一段路要走。在NordSpace公司，首席执行官拉胡尔·戈埃尔则表现得更为谨慎乐观。
A long way from liftoff At NordSpace, CEO Rahul Goel is more cautiously optimistic.
戈埃尔从小便梦想建造火箭，但他表示，在职业生涯的头十年，他专注于创办另一家公司，并赚取了数百万资金用于投资NordSpace，“因为当时根本没有人愿意开支票支持他”。他说，目前行业受到的关注以及公司获得的资金都是积极的。但他担心这种支持可能很快又会消失，因此正加紧建立发射能力，以防这种情况发生。
Goel had dreamed of building rockets since childhood, but says he spent the first decade of his career building another company and making his own millions to invest in NordSpace "because nobody would write a cheque." He says the attention on his industry and the funding his company has received is positive. But he worries it could go away again soon, and is rushing to establish launch capabilities in case that happens.
“我见过局势转变得有多快，也清楚它逆转得同样迅速，”戈埃尔说。
"I've seen how quickly the tides can turn and I know how quickly the tides can turn back," Goel said.
SpaceQ公司的布歇估计，要制造出一款能够可靠从加拿大发射的火箭，可能需要超过5000万美元。他表示，这些公司要进入轨道，很可能还需要更多来自私营和公共部门的资金——尤其是在2028年这个紧张的时限内。
Boucher of SpaceQ estimates it could take upwards of $50 million to get a rocket that's reliably launching from Canada. He says more private and public money for each of the companies will likely be needed to reach orbit — especially on the tight 2028 timeline.
“这不是一个短期项目，而是一项长期布局，”布歇说。“SpaceX……直到多年后才实现了首次成功发射。我们也要花上数年时间，才能达到从加拿大进行常规发射的阶段。”
"This is not a short-term thing. This is a long-term play," Boucher said. "It took SpaceX … years before they got their first successful launch. It's going to take several years before we get to the point where we see regular launches from Canada."