Six years after being selected for the astronaut corps, Joshua Kutryk has been assigned to a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, becoming the fourth Canadian to undertake such an extended stay in orbit. The announcement, made in late November 2023 from the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters near Montreal, reflects a quiet but deliberate national commitment to sustaining a human presence beyond Earth. Alongside this, fellow 2017 selectee Jenni Gibbons has been named backup for the Artemis II lunar mission — a position that could, if circumstance calls, carry her farther
Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk assigned to ISS mission launching in 2025
The fourth Canadian to serve a long-duration mission on the station
Mark
So Kutryk gets the ISS mission—what does a six-month assignment actually involve? Is this a routine posting at this point?
Mimi
It's significant for Canada specifically. He'll be the fourth Canadian to do a long-duration mission there, which means we're building real continuity in human spaceflight. Saint-Jacques did it in 2018-2019, so there's a pattern now.
Luke
But we should be clear: the ISS is a well-established platform. This isn't a new frontier the way Artemis is. It's important work, but it's also operational at this point.
Mark
And Gibbons gets the backup slot for Artemis II—how likely is it she'd actually fly?
Mimi
That depends on whether Jeremy Hansen can go. He's the primary. If something happens to him, she steps in. It's a real assignment, not ceremonial.
Luke
Right, but the source doesn't tell us anything about Hansen's health or circumstances. We don't know the actual probability. We just know she's the backup if needed.
Mark
Why does it matter that both of them were selected in 2017?
Mimi
Because they're moving into major missions at the same time. It shows the cohort is maturing into real spaceflight roles. The 2009 astronauts—Saint-Jacques and Hansen—they've already flown. Now the 2017 class is getting their turn.
Luke
Though we should note: Kutryk's launch is "no earlier than" early 2025. That's a soft date. Space missions slip. And Artemis II was originally supposed to launch in November 2024, but that's already been pushed. These timelines are aspirational.
Mark
Does this change Canada's role in space exploration?
Mimi
It maintains it. Canada has been a partner in the ISS since the beginning. This keeps that commitment alive with Canadian boots on the station. And if Gibbons flies Artemis, that's a first—a Canadian beyond Earth orbit.
Luke
The source doesn't explain what Canada's broader space strategy is or why these missions matter to Canadian interests. We know they're happening, but not the policy context.
Il Polso
- Canada's two most junior active astronauts, selected together in 2017, are now simultaneously on the threshold of landmark missions — a convergence that signals a generational shift in the country's spaceflight program.
- Kutryk's ISS assignment carries a launch window no earlier than early 2025, leaving a narrow but uncertain timeline that demands sustained preparation and institutional readiness.
- Gibbons stands as backup to Jeremy Hansen on Artemis II, meaning a single unforeseen event could place her in the history books as the first Canadian to leave Earth orbit entirely.
- The dual announcement stretches Canada's small four-person astronaut corps across two of the most significant human spaceflight programs currently active — the ISS and the Moon.
Six years after being selected for the astronaut corps, Joshua Kutryk has been assigned to a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, becoming the fourth Canadian to undertake such an extended stay in orbit. The announcement, made in late November 2023 from the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters near Montreal, reflects a quiet but deliberate national commitment to sustaining a human presence beyond Earth. Alongside this, fellow 2017 selectee Jenni Gibbons has been named backup for the Artemis II lunar mission — a position that could, if circumstance calls, carry her farther from Earth than any Canadian has ever traveled.
Joshua Kutryk is going to space. On November 22, 2023, Canada's federal minister of innovation, science and industry announced from the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters near Montreal that Kutryk had been assigned to a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, with launch targeted for no earlier than early 2025.
Kutryk will become the fourth Canadian to serve a long-duration mission on the station. He was selected into the astronaut corps in 2017 alongside Jenni Gibbons — both part of a newer cohort working alongside veterans David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen, who were selected in 2009. Saint-Jacques himself spent more than six months on the ISS in 2018 and 2019, and Kutryk now follows that established path.
The same announcement brought significant news for Gibbons. She has been named backup astronaut for NASA's Artemis II mission — the crewed lunar flight targeting as early as November 2024 — replacing Jeremy Hansen should he become unable to fly. That role, if activated, would make her the first Canadian ever to travel beyond Earth orbit.
That both Kutryk and Gibbons, selected together six years ago, now stand at the edge of major missions simultaneously speaks to something larger: a next generation of Canadian space explorers stepping fully into the roles their predecessors helped make possible.
Joshua Kutryk is going to space. The Canadian astronaut has been assigned to a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, with launch scheduled for no earlier than the start of 2025. The announcement came on November 22, 2023, from François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's federal minister of innovation, science and industry, speaking from the Canadian Space Agency headquarters near Montreal.
Kutryk will become the fourth Canadian astronaut to spend an extended period on the station. He was selected into the astronaut corps in 2017, part of a cohort that also included Jenni Gibbons. Both are among the four active Canadian astronauts currently serving—the other two, David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen, were selected eight years earlier, in 2009.
Saint-Jacques has already completed his own long-duration mission, spending more than six months aboard the station in 2018 and 2019. Now Kutryk will follow that path, marking another step in Canada's sustained presence in human spaceflight. The assignment reflects a deliberate strategy to maintain Canadian participation in the International Space Station program as it continues operating.
The same announcement also positioned Gibbons for a different kind of historic opportunity. She has been named as the backup astronaut for NASA's Artemis II mission, the crewed lunar flight that will send four people around the Moon as early as November 2024. If Jeremy Hansen, who was originally assigned to the mission, becomes unable to participate for any reason, Gibbons would take his place. That would make her the first Canadian to travel beyond Earth orbit.
The timing of these assignments underscores how the two junior Canadian astronauts selected together in 2017 are now moving into major roles simultaneously. While Kutryk prepares for his extended stay on the orbiting laboratory, Gibbons stands ready to potentially make the leap to lunar space. Both represent the next generation of Canadian space explorers, stepping into missions that their predecessors helped establish and validate.
Citazioni salienti
Kutryk will become the fourth Canadian astronaut to serve a long-duration mission on the station— Canadian Space Agency announcement
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