A new rocket startup to be launched Friday says it plans to soon become the first Canadian company to have the capacity to launch medium-payload satellites in space, filling in a potentially important niche in Canada’s defence.

The Toronto-based company has already raised $6.2-million from the Business Development Bank of Canada, a Crown corporation, and a range of private investors including Toronto-based Garage Capital. Canada Rocket Company says the capital that it has raised is the largest round of all-Canadian seed funding ever for a space and defence startup.

The Canadian market alone is expected to be worth about $1-billion between 2033 and 2040, Kolias said.

Canada Rocket says it expects to be able to able to produce the rocket architecture for light-lift vehicles by 2028 when it will have about 150 employees, and then scale up to produce a medium-lift rocket two or three years later.