Behind every article on The Canadian Space is a lean, mostly automated stack built with powerful tools. The goal has always been maximum high quality automated output, with minimal human interaction.

Here’s the current lineup, with thanks to every provider that makes this possible.

Hosting & Infrastructure

  • Bluehost Web hosting for thecanadian.space (WordPress site). Provides the foundation for the blog with easy WordPress installation and reliable uptime.
  • Digital Ocean VPS host running our n8n instance. Powers all automation 24/7.
  • GitHub Image hosting for header graphics, diagrams, and static assets. Keeps everything versioned and publicly accessible.

Workflow Creation & Automation

  • n8n The backbone of The Canadian Space. This open-source workflow automation tool pulls data, generates articles, posts to WordPress/Facebook/Instagram, and handles scheduling — all self-hosted on Digital Ocean.

Data Collection APIs

  • twitterapi.io – Access to X/Twitter data (Rocket Lab, Blue Origin, CSA, etc.). Used for daily tweet roundups and sentiment checks.
  • ScraperAPI – Web-page scraping when official RSS/API isn’t available. Returns clean HTML from news sites.
  • Browserless – Headless browser service for scraping dynamic/JavaScript-heavy pages. Used when rendered content is needed (e.g. interactive launch schedules).
  • ScrapingBee – Handy for grabbing images for use in image manipulation workflows
  • Spaceflight News API – Aerospace news aggregator. Pulls articles, blogs, and reports from around the industry.
  • Launch Library 2 API – Source for launch schedules, vehicle information, and agency data. Powers upcoming/previous launch sections and agency lookups.

AI Tools

  • Claude (Anthropic) – Primary workflow assembly assistant. Helps write n8n node configs, debug expressions, and brainstorm architecture.
  • Qwen (via OpenRouter) – Main article author for daily broadcasts and monthly roundups. Produces clean, structured HTML output.
  • DeepSeek (via OpenRouter) – Backup author when Qwen is unavailable. Provides reliable, high-quality text generation for articles and content.
  • xAI / Grok – Social media caption writer. Handles creative tweaks and adds personality.

Home-Brew Solutions

A huge thank-you to every tool and team above. By combining open-source, powerful APIs, and generous free tiers, we’ve built something that runs almost entirely on autopilot — letting one person in Ontario share Canadian space news with the world.

If you’re building something similar, feel free to reach out — happy to share what we’ve learned along the way.

Thank you for being part of The Canadian Space community. Enjoy your cosmic journey!