Maritime Launch Services Debuts on NEO Stock Exchange, But Will They Have a Rocket to Fly?
by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Maritime Launch Services has debuted on the NEO Exchange, become the latest space company to go public on a stock exchange without any revenues (losses, actually) while avoiding the “rigmarole” (Richard Branson’s words, not mine) associated with a traditional initial public offering (IPO).
In addition to a lack of revenues and a crowded launcher market, there’s another question hanging over the company that nobody can answer right now: exactly what are they going to launch from the spaceport they’re building in Nova Scotia? The Cyclone 4M booster they plan to use is built in Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia.
There’s no indication that the Ukrainian companies that build the rockets has been destroyed in the fighting. It’s just not clear who will ultimately control the facilities and when shipments of its products will resume.
Maritime made no mention of the Ukraine situation in its upbeat announcement about its NEO Exchange listing.
“Our NEO listing is a key building block to our to plans to acquire a share of the massive commercial space industry market. Like NEO, we are driven to meeting the needs of our clients with unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional service,” said Stephen Matier, President and CEO of Maritime Launch. “Following the record-setting investment in the space market in 2021, we expect the industry to continue on its growth trajectory over the years to come. As a launch service provider, Maritime Launch aims to serve as a part of the backbone to the entire industry and will be a model for the commercial space sector. Today’s listing means Maritime Launch will have greater access to a diverse mix of equity investors and financing partners as we develop Spaceport Nova Scotia and attract and retain great talent.”
Maritime isn’t the only Western company affected. For example, upper stages for Arianespace’s Vega booster and the first stages of Northrop Grumman’s Antares boosters are built in Europe. Both companies have received received deliveries that will allow them to continue conducting missions for a period of time. Arianespace is looking for an alternative upper stage while Northrop Grumman is seeking other rides for the Cygnus resupply ships it launches to the International Space Station.
Maritime’s press release is below.
TORONTO, April 27, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NEO is proud to welcome Maritime Launch Services Inc. (“Maritime Launch” or the “Company”), a Canadian-owned commercial space company, as they list today on the NEO Exchange. Maritime Launch is now available for trading on NEO under the symbol MAXQ.
Maritime Launch is building a Spaceport in Nova Scotia, which is positioned to become a world-class commercial launch complex. The first of its kind in Canada, Spaceport Nova Scotia will be the only pure play, commercially operated launch site in North America. Led by Stephen Matier, a mechanical engineer, former NASA contractor engineering manager, and entrepreneur, Maritime Launch aims to offer state-of-the-art, low technical risk launch alternatives for placing global client satellites into low Earth orbit, at competitive prices.
“Our NEO listing is a key building block to our to plans to acquire a share of the massive commercial space industry market. Like NEO, we are driven to meeting the needs of our clients with unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional service,” commented Stephen Matier, President and CEO of Maritime Launch. “Following the record-setting investment in the space market in 2021, we expect the industry to continue on its growth trajectory over the years to come. As a launch service provider, Maritime Launch aims to serve as a part of the backbone to the entire industry and will be a model for the commercial space sector. Today’s listing means Maritime Launch will have greater access to a diverse mix of equity investors and financing partners as we develop Spaceport Nova Scotia and attract and retain great talent.”
Investors can trade shares of Maritime Launch (MAXQ) through their usual investment channels, including discount brokerage platforms and full-service dealers.
“Today’s debut of Maritime Launch on NEO marks the beginning of a true partnership between innovators who are ushering in a tech-centric future where even the sky is not the limit,” remarked Jos Schmitt, President and CEO of the NEO Exchange. “This is also the first space-related corporate listing on NEO, which has become the definitive venue of choice for groundbreaking companies in the innovation economy. Under the leadership of a seasoned team of industry veterans, the Company is uniquely prepared for the challenge of disrupting the global launch market. And by listing on NEO, Maritime Launch stands to benefit from greater exposure to the investor community, enhanced access to capital and liquidity, and the exceptional level of service which sets NEO apart from the rest.”
The NEO Exchange is home to over 225 unique listings, including some of the most innovative Canadian and international growth companies, and ETFs from Canada’s largest ETF issuers. NEO consistently facilitates between 10% and 15% of all Canadian trading volume. Click here for a complete view of all NEO-listed securities.
About the NEO Exchange
The NEO Exchange is Canada’s Tier 1 stock exchange for the innovation economy, bringing together investors and capital raisers within a fair, liquid, efficient, and service-oriented environment. Fully operational since June 2015, NEO puts investors first and provides access to trading across all Canadian-listed securities on a level playing field. NEO lists companies and investment products seeking an internationally recognized stock exchange that enables investor trust, quality liquidity, and broad awareness including unfettered access to market data.
13 responses to “Maritime Launch Services Debuts on NEO Stock Exchange, But Will They Have a Rocket to Fly?”
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Doubt building rockets for commercial launch would be a priority for the Ukrainians right now. They are most likely concentrating their limited resources to producing weapons. I doubt Maritime Launch Services will be able to get any Cyclone 4Ms until well after the war ends, and that will be quite a while.
I have heard that. plus I have heard that they are being adapted for war fighting
The large aerospace manufacturing hub at Dnipro could well be one of Putin’s objectives, as well as its strategic location.
my late wifes father in law, the Admiral coined this phrase in terms of Bush43’s efforts in Iraq…and admits it comes from Animal House which he loves (As do I ) “Road trip”
if there is/was any plan either By Putin or Putin and Zi it was to crack the west…and Putin was first off. Putin figured that he could invade Ukraine, conquer it quickly and be hailed as the new hero of the world and then everyone everywhere would bow down even more to him then they have been doing since he came into office. Except this time not as “someone they could work with” but as “someone who they feared”
And I thought it would work. but he (and I) misestimated the Ukrainians, the Europeans and actually Americans and Joe Biden as well. and like Bush he overestimated how brilliant his army was.
However other than that. I dont think he has aany real objectives. Bush43 and Cheney both figured out “we take Iraq” and wow we can act like we are 40 feet tall…and most importantly everyone else will.
With luck, given the failure of Russian in its Ukraine invasion and the massive Covid outbreak in China (165 million in lock down), neither Putin or Xi will be around long as both nations work to rebuild their shattered economies.
That would be nice. It certainly would not solve all of our problems with both nations, but might go some way toward making them more manageable.
China, in addition to the recent renewed Covid outbreaks, has been suffering a melt-down in its housing market that rivals our Great Depression 2.0 during Obama’s tenure. The PRC government is trying to hold the roof up both by having state-owned banks make more unrepayable loans, by allowing selective defaults of dollar-denominated bonds (always fuck the foreign devils first) and by inflating its currency.
At some point, troweling on more spackle simply isn’t going to suffice to cover the cracks in the PRC economy’s fundamental structure. This might be the year everything comes unstuck. Or perhaps a few years of additional shaky grace will turn out to be buyable.
China’s position is not improved by having to rebuild its pig population after a sort of piggified Ebola swept through and required putting down 80% of the Chinese porcine population. The PRC not only has to feed itself, it has to feed a lot of juvenile pigs.
The Party Congress this fall will have to decide whether or not to grant Xi a third five-year term as Emperor. Xi has made a lot of enemies in his decade in power and things have not gone well for China on his watch, especially recently. So there seems at least a modest probability that Xi will be deposed.
The U.S. army didn’t have to be brilliant to take Iraq. The Iraqi army was a typical 3rd-world army that just happened to have a lot of 2nd-world weaponry because it was oil-rich. But its core competence was keeping domestic order for Saddam, not fighting peer militaries. Iraq spent eight years fighting an Iranian military which had been purged of anyone with actual military capability and which, perforce, reverted to human-wave “tactics” last seen on Japanese-held islands in the Pacific and in Korea on the part of the PLA “volunteers.” The U.S. military merely had to be passably competent and it was. Taking Iraq took about three weeks. After that, things went to hell because Bush repeated the equally stupid mistake he made in Afghanistan – putting a clueless State lifer in charge of putting the locals back in charge ASAP.
If you think Putin has no objectives, that simply illustrates how little you actually know about the situation. Putin is looking to occupy all of the traditional routes by which various enemies have invaded Russia over the centuries. The USSR had control of all of them. After the USSR collapsed, it had control of only one. Georgia in 2008, Ukraine, in 2014 and now, “peacekeeping” in Nagorno-Karabakh and suppression of a popular uprising in Kazakhstan are all aimed at getting back control of additional traditional invasion routes.
Problem is, even if Putin takes all of Ukraine, he still has to take Poland, the Baltics, Moldova and at least a piece of Romania in order to get them all. Poland, Romania and the Baltics are NATO members. If NATO can enable the Ukrainians to check Putin now, by pouring in “Lend-Lease” while avoiding direct involvement on the ground, then Russia, under sanctions, will be too poor – and, soon, also too lacking in men of military age – to gin up another such attempt before it simply expires of terminal funk, out-migration and a grossly insufficient birthrate.
Good morning
first graph. in my view you were doing “OK” until you got to the point about why the operation failed. “Afghanistan – putting a clueless State lifer in charge of putting the locals back in charge ASAP.”
then you started saying the same thing just in different words that has been used to explain superpower failure in almost every “colony” that they had…ever since the English lost America. No foreign power and that is what the Crown had been come to be to a substantial majority of Americans…can control the destiny of another culture if that culture does not see any political value in it. and they never do. Worse in Iraq there were three distinct cultures that did not want to have a sharing role with the other two; because they did not trust each other. Few people in the US military or diplomatic corp understood the local cultures…and they could just never get together…because those choices are local political ones…and they require trust.
in both places (although I know personally about Iraq) it was hopeless from the start.
It is actually quite hopeless in terms of “us” dealing with the cultures in the mideast right now. even when we had a thug as president. Trump was so outclassed by the thugs in Saudi Arabia…I did love it when Melania wore that concubine outfit. So must have the Saudis.
“If you think Putin has no objectives” He has an objective . but just not the one you mention. he is smarter than that. his objective in a nutshell is to box at a mass that is above his actual mass level…by trying to use his armed forces as a mass builder. and that is no different than what Bush43 was trying in the mideast. problem is all the failed effort did…was make them look smaller (and cost the US about 12 trillion dollars…did you think the war would pay for itself 🙂 Putin’s country is except for nukes. a pygmy. its like Mississippi being a strong “state” in the US instead of a right wing backwoods no place
If Putin takes Ukraine he wins. Zilinsky and Biden have checked him (of course most credit goes to the Ukrainians) RGO
Oy, where to start?
The U.S. “controlled” both Japan and Germany under governments of military occupation for nearly a decade apiece. We made a lot of changes to the political cultures of both places and those changes have pretty much stuck.
Iraq is, admittedly, an entirely artificial country whose boundaries were arbitrarily drawn by the British a century ago. That said, the British didn’t necessarily see the multi-cultural nature of the result as an inevitable showstopper. After all, there are a lot more different ethnic, linguistic and religious divides in India than in Iraq and the British did a decent job of running that place for the better part of two centuries.
It is also noteworthy that India, once independent, did not refracture into its former minor sultanates and satrapies ruled by royalty, but – except for what quickly became Pakistan – remained a unified polity under a republican form of government.
Iraq was a failure because Bush thought Saddam was the problem and that he could quickly put matters to rights by getting rid of him. That wasn’t nearly enough. We needed to run the place for awhile and keep the locals from each others throats long enough for peace and relative prosperity to become normative. The same is obviously true of Afghanistan as well.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were certainly expensive, but most of the expense was due to the early mistakes made by Bush that kept both places a military problem for years rather than a much cheaper governance problem. The expense is simply compounded by the ultimate failures in both places.
That you think Putin is merely indulging in chest-puffing in Ukraine is simply, as I already explained at length, indicative of your fundamental misunderstanding of the essentials of that conflict. That you airily dismiss anything that does not accord with your ignorant prejudices in this case is, unfortunately, all too familiar a circumstance – you do the same about nearly everything else as well.
Iraq was a failure because Bush thought Saddam was the problem and that he could quickly put matters to rights by getting rid of him. That wasn’t nearly enough. We needed to run the place for awhile and keep the locals from each others throats long enough for peace and relative prosperity to become normative. The same is obviously true of Afghanistan as well
…. I am sure Putin is thinking the same thing about Ukraine. and it wont work there either.
First off no country has the right to invade another country unless it is the result of being attacked. We had that right in WW2 and the Ukraines have it today. we certianly had no right to do that in Iraq nor did the Russians the right to do that in Ukraine. Bush lied as much as Putin did. and people bought the lies. Hubris
Second. German and Japan wanted regime change as a people . But we mostly let them do it their own way. Iraq was a massive mistake…as was Afland. GOP foreign policy has been off track this entire century. Do you think either was worthwhile?
The U.S. was attacked – by transnational terrorists being willingly harbored in Afghanistan by its post-Soviet government. Iraq first invaded Kuwait, then, when expelled, but not conquered outright, continued to attack the U.S. by shooting at our planes enforcing the no-fly zone that was part of the armistice that ended the Gulf War and by trying to assassinate a former U.S. president. The U.S. was entirely within its rights to respond to all of these attacks. Bush didn’t lie about anything.
What Russia wants to do in Ukraine is entirely for the benefit of Russia, not Ukraine. What the U.S. did in Japan and Germany – and could have done in Afghanistan and Iraq – is teach nations with seriously defective political cultures how to become wealthy, peaceful and secure without beating up their neighbors. But Bush 41 seems never to have handed down any WW2-era wisdom to his boy W.
Germany and Japan wanted regime change as a people? Not so’s you’d notice. But they got it anyway. In time, they decided the militarist regimes to which they had formerly sworn fealty had not been worthy of it. We changed their minds by showing them a different way forward.
U.S. foreign policy has had its mistakes and idiocies under administrations of both parties. GWB was a middling President, but his foreign policy was far better than that of Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton.
Do I think the Afghan and Iraq wars were worthwhile? Hardly as worthwhile as they could have been, but better than having done nothing in both cases. Iraq is still a mess, but it is, at least, no longer an outwardly aggressive mess. Afghanistan remains the throwback tribal barbarian backwater it was reduced to by the Taliban after the Soviet exit. But I do not think it is likely to risk further rude attention by the U.S. through hosting and supporting foreign terrorists – especially on their own dime. And the rich ones like OBL are all dead now.
Maritime Launch Services’s future will depend on how quickly Ukraine can expel its invaders and how much damage said invaders have done and will do before that happens. The Russians have not taken Dnipro, where Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash are located, but there have been airstikes in the area. If Ukraine can divest itself of its unwelcome houseguests by, say, late summer, then NATO – primarily U.S. – money can begin flowing to repair damage. Maritime Launch Services will find that NorGrum also has considerable interest in seeing Yuhznoye and Yuzhmash patched up and back in business soonest. And NorGrum has a lot more influence over U.S. policy.
MLS has not finished the required environmental assessment conditions. They can not apply for a lease until the conditions are met. No lease, no spaceport. These conditions are worth a read and can be found on the NS government website.