The announcement by NASA that the White House had committed to extend the operations of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2030 will not surprise many. Though the announcement came on New Year’s Eve, it sets the stage for negotiations that are expected to conclude in 2022, including a Canadian commitment.
The announcement was posted to the NASA International Space Station blog and is available in its entirety below.
Canada’s ISS commitment
Currently Canada is committed to participate through 2024. With the U.S. officially committing to extending operations through 2030, Canada must now negotiate its commitment, likely the last time ISS operations are extended. Canada’s commitment will come with a price tag attached to it, that price will have to be something the current Liberal government will be comfortable with.
Considerations include how much science Canada wants to do, and how often a Canadian astronaut will be sent to the ISS.
Considering Canada’s push of being a leader of health research in space, it’s likely we’ll see some significant research funded. That funding will also take into consideration future research needs for the Lunar Gateway and human operations on the surface of the Moon.
Of course it always looks good when a Canadian astronaut is helping with those health research experiments on the ISS.
It’s been 2 1/2 years since David Saint-Jacques returned to Earth after a six month mission on Expedition 58/59. It takes upwards of two years to train for a mission so you might expect that between now and 2030 two more Canadian astronauts will get an opportunity for long-duration missions aboard the ISS. Although it would not be surprising if a third rotation spot is secured.
At this time there is one U.S. reserved crew seat available for Expedition 67 with an arrival date of September 2022. It seems unlikely given the time constraint that a Canadian would be assigned to that mission. It’s more likely a Canadian would participate in Expedition 68 or 69.
Of note, Jeremy Hansen is the last member of NASA’s Astronaut Group 20 to be assigned a flight. He is the leading candidate to be the next Canadian astronaut to fly and could be slotted in on SpaceX Crew-6 planned for April 2023.
And let’s not forget a Canadian astronaut will be on NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon, currently scheduled for 2024.
Biden-Harris Administration Extends Space Station Operations Through 2030
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to extend International Space Station (ISS) operations through 2030, and to work with our international partners in Europe (ESA, European Space Agency), Japan (JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Canada (CSA, Canadian Space Agency), and Russia (State Space Corporation Roscosmos) to enable continuation of the groundbreaking research being conducted in this unique orbiting laboratory through the rest of this decade.
“The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity. I’m pleased that the Biden-Harris Administration has committed to continuing station operations through 2030,” Nelson said. “The United States’ continued participation on the ISS will enhance innovation and competitiveness, as well as advance the research and technology necessary to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis program and pave the way for sending the first humans to Mars. As more and more nations are active in space, it’s more important than ever that the United States continues to lead the world in growing international alliances and modeling rules and norms for the peaceful and responsible use of space.”
Over the past two decades, the United States has maintained a continuous human presence in orbit around the Earth to test technologies, conduct scientific research, and develop skills needed to explore farther than ever before. The unique microgravity laboratory has hosted more than 3,000 research investigations from over 4,200 researchers across the world and is returning enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit people on Earth. Nearly 110 countries and areas have participated in activities aboard the station, including more than 1,500,000 students per year in STEM activities.
Instruments aboard the ISS, used in concert with free-flying instruments in other orbits, help us measure the stresses of drought and the health of forests to enable improved understanding of the interaction of carbon and climate at different time scales. Operating these and other climate-related instruments through the end of the decade will greatly increase our understanding of the climate cycle.
Extending operations through 2030 will continue another productive decade of research advancement and enable a seamless transition of capabilities in low-Earth orbit to one or more commercially owned and operated destinations in the late 2020s. The decision to extend operations and NASA’s recent awards to develop commercial space stations together ensure uninterrupted, continuous human presence and capabilities; both are critical facets of NASA’s International Space Station transition plan.