CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Canada is considering another astronaut recruitment after astronaut Jenni Gibbons is assigned to a mission, according to the minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
While Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly did not give an exact timeline for this recruitment in a one-on-one interview to SpaceQ, likely as it would depend on NASA’s schedule for Gibbons’ mission selection, she said she is hopeful to see measurable progress on both Gibbons’ mission and the astronaut selection in the next year.
Assuming an astronaut selection in 2027 or even shortly after that, this would be roughly on pace with past astronaut recruitments that roughly happened every 10 years; the full campaign set for the National Research Council and CSA were in 1983, 1992, 2009 and 2017. The CSA has three active astronauts: David Saint-Jacques from the 2009 selection (as Jeremy Hansen, also selected then, recently retired), and Gibbons and Josh Kutryk (who just launched to space Thursday, Oct. 1) from the 2017 selection.
“We want to be able to have Jenni participate, be able to send her to space, and not to have to wait four years to do so,” Joly said. The four-year timeline she is referring to is the nominal timeline for putting another Canadian astronaut on the ISS in 2030. The CSA’s roughly 2.3% contribution to the ISS partnership allows for flight slots, at current rates, about every six years. Chris Hadfield was in 2012-13 and Saint-Jacques in 2018-19. Kutryk, who flew to space with SpaceX Crew-13 on Thursday, Oct. 1, was initially expected to fly to the ISS in 2024 aboard Boeing Starliner, before numerous issues delayed the program.
Gibbons previously served as Artemis 2 backup to Hansen as well as its lunar capcom, and she is now lead capcom for Artemis 3 launching NET 2027. This may suggest an opportunity for CSA also in the Artemis program, which initially would have had at least two slots for CSA astronauts (Hansen, and one other) based on the agency’s funding contribution of the MDA Space-made Canadarm3 to the Gateway space station. NASA paused Gateway indefinitely in March, however, in favour of a Moon Base. The Canadarm3 contract with MDA Space continues and CSA, as well as other international partners, are in negotiations with NASA for how Moon Base contributions would work.
Joly emphasized that the CSA is continuing to “embrace our partnership with NASA” and that Kutryk’s launch is “building on the momentum” with Jeremy Hansen and Artemis 2, which was a joint NASA-CSA mission.
Joly added that collaboration is important “in these moments, and I must say, as geopolitics is becoming more complicated.” Pointing to the composition of the Crew-13 astronauts, she added, “It’s an important message we’re sending to humanity that two Americans, a Canadian, and a Russian, are able to work together at the International Space Station.”
Eight years of groundwork for Kutryk’s flight
Kutryk was still an astronaut candidate when the last ISS mission took place for Canada in 2018-19. In a separate exclusive interview with SpaceQ on Sept. 30, the CSA’s Mathieu Caron, CSA’s director of astronauts and life sciences, emphasized that while CSA astronauts were not on station in the interim, Kutryk’s flight is “a direct outcome” of robotic systems doing daily maintenance work in the years in between— on tasks such as supporting spacewalks, capturing some cargo vehicles, doing transfers, and swapping components.
“We didn’t just provide a robotic system, but all the expertise that goes around. We have a team of flight controllers, engineers. We have to make sure of the spare parts and do all the analysis, because over the years, the way in which we use the robotic systems is significantly different from what we had thought initially when we first launched it in 2001.” (Caron was referring to how most robotics are now controlled from the ground, which took place as robotics controllers gained expertise, and technology and procedures advanced.)
“Because of our contribution, we’re entitled to a certain amount of astronaut time,” Caron said of CSA, where he is director of astronauts, life sciences and space medicine. “Astronaut time, up mass, down mass, volume, storage space, communication, et cetera. That enables us to put those resources at the disposal of Canadian researchers. And we’ve elected—you can imagine that a lot of people throughout the country have great ideas of what we can do in space—but as a smaller country, we have to be focused. We have to find our niche, like what we did with robotics. So for that reason, we said, ‘You know what. The science we will do will revolve around health.’ Because by understanding what takes place on astronauts’ long-duration missions, you can make sure that future missions in deeper space, longer-duration missions will still be safe.”
Caron acknowledged that having a Canadian on board “shines a great big spotlight on robotics, spacewalks, Canadian science—but that takes place all the time, even when they’re not there.”
As of this writing, Kutryk has completing a handover period with the previous U.S. mission — Crew-12 — that is departing the ISS today. Kutryk will next be working on a resupply vehicle, a SpaceX Dragon, that is arriving later in October. Caron said besides these duties, the first couple of weeks of his mission would be familiarization with the space station.
Astronauts typically work on hundreds of experiments and many maintenance tasks on station. Kutryk will also have a selection of public events with audiences such as reporters and school children. Lastly, there is the possibility of at least one spacewalk; during the Crew-12 farewell remarks on Sunday, Oct. 4, departing ISS commander and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir said the astronauts can likely look forward to several spacewalks in the coming months, but neither NASA nor any agency has confirmed the nature, scheduling or assigned astronauts to these extra-vehicular activities.
Top-level support
In her conversation with SpaceQ, Joly said she flew down to Florida for a few reasons —aside from supporting Kutryk’s launch, she wanted to show this commitment to collaboration at a high level of the Canadian government. Her portfolio, she told SpaceQ, “has so many priorities, and is the front line of the trade war right now, but at the same time I profoundly believe that the space sector right now is undergoing major changes.”
Joly said she spoke with several other astronauts — including Saint-Jacques, Hansen and Hadfield — about “the new reality” that NASA is embracing, including increased partnerships with more commercial partners. She had not quite yet met with NASA administrator Jared Isaacman during the Sept. 30 conversation with SpaceQ, but that happened the following day and Joly told reporters then that all had gone well.
Ahead of the Isaacman conversation, Joly said her priorities included bringing more Canadian astronauts into space more frequently. “We want to launch more astronauts. We think that the pace of the launch has been too long, for a while. And as many other space agencies in the world, we believe that we can do better. Therefore, we have to look at different ways to do so.”
Joly said her policy priorities also include bringing in a new CSA president and creating a new (civilian) space strategy — the last one was in 2019 — to build on the Defence Industrial Strategy, emphasizing aspects such as job creation, winning international contracts, and sovereign launch. The latter, she added, is especially demonstrated through Bill C-28 that is aimed at streamlining launching regulations, as well as the government’s 10-year, $200-million investment in Maritime Launch Services announced earlier this year.
Joly added that more space capabilities with different partners is also on her priority list, particularly with the European Space Agency — with whom Canada is a cooperating state. “We’ve also announced more than $500 million in partnership with industry and the European Space Agency less than a year ago,” Joly said. “And at the core of all, that conversation is the space-launcher capabilities Canada will be able to offer.”
Joly framed sovereign launch, the space industry and associated projects as being one route the government is looking at as geopolitical priorities shift. “I also think that we need to be able to benefit from the industrial impacts,” she said. “Canadians right now are going through a trade war, sometimes in the manufacturing sectors. Things are tough, and we are finding ways to build our country. Reinvesting and creating jobs in aerospace is part of that plan. So that’s how I also see the sector—as being able to provide good livelihoods.”
Joly was next asked about the baseline CSA budget, which has remained flat for many years while the government has added substantial one-time infusions of funding for supplemental projects, notably for lunar rovers and Canadarm3.
While Joly pointed to the new CSA president as being the person “in charge of empowering this space agency,” she added, “I think there’s a reckoning, certainly, on my part and part of the government, to really do more with the Canadian space industry. We have a gem. We were able to build great things. [Past CSA president] Lisa Campbell was able to deliver us Artemis 2 and Jeremy Hansen, participating in this great success.”
Going forward, Joly said she anticipates a more integrated approach (even more so than today) between the CSA and other departments, particularly in the industrial and military sectors and focusing on space launch. And as NASA considers its opportunities for Moon Base and other international partnerships, so too is Canada.
“As there is a competition between great powers over space, we need to have middle powers working together to build that coalition,” she said. “So we need to be able to do both. Continue to work with NASA, but at the same time, being able to work with new partners that maybe we haven’t done so much work in the past with.”
Joly added that she works hard to strike a balance between protecting Canadian trade interests, while emphasizing collaboration. “As human beings, we need to be able to agree that collaboration needs to be protected for the betterment of humanity. And in the end, we’re very small in this entire universe. I look at the sky all the time and think about that. So, that is why I wanted to come to the launch, because I wanted to make sure that we could send a message of the importance of space, and of collaboration, in these troubled times.”