Space researchers in Cartwright have declared the first round of their scientific testing, involving shooting an artillery canon straight up into the sky, a success.

"Phase 1 was to test the launcher and all the associated equipment, the ground equipment, for the first time firing," said Richard Graf, the CEO of StarFire Scientific Inc.

"We made 10 shots and generally we collected the information we were looking for," Graf said.

Graf and his team scoped out Cartwright earlier this year as an ideal place to test the almost 14-metre-long cannon, also known as a space gun.

As part of Phase 1, the researchers shot plywood boxes loaded full of sand into sky — although the boxes didn't stay boxes for long.

"They disintegrated when they left the launcher and came down as basically plywood confetti," Graf told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

The boxes weighed the same as the flight vehicles the company plans to one day launch high above the earth.

This was one of the test slugs, made of plywood and filled with sand, shot from the cannon. (Starfire Scientific report)

Mosquitoes in space?

Up next in Cartwright, the team plans to launch what they're calling a "mosquito flight vehicle."

"The mosquito is about four feet long, weighs about 30 pounds, and is designed to carry a payload inside of it," said Graf, adding the craft will begin with suborbital flights.

"A suborbital flight means it goes up to high altitude, and then it falls down again. But after we get that worked out we're going to start developing a small satellite launching vehicle we can fire from the sky.

This sort of equipment would be ideal for atmospheric monitoring, according to Graf.

"You can conduct almost all the same experiments that you can in suborbital flights as you can with a small satellite," he said, adding its a "significantly cheaper" option.

Phase 2 this fall

That mosquito flight vehicle is part of the company's Phase 2 testing, which StarFire Scientific plans to return to Cartwright and conduct in October.

"Then, we're going to proceed to higher-altitude flights with that, and hopefully we'll be back in Labrador again," said Graf.

Certainly something like this being so unique will draw a significant number of tourists into the area. - Richard Graf

Graf thinks this could create a big opportunity for Cartwright.

"I'm certainly hoping that we can be a benefit to the town of Cartwright. Certainly something like this being so unique will draw a significant number of tourists into the area," he said.

Especially, Graf said, since this is a one-of-a-kind area of research.

"This is unique in the world. Nobody else anywhere is using gun launchers for space applications," Graf said.

With files from Labrador Morning

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