Canadian Space Agency: October 2009 Archives

Canada is mentioned five times in the US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee Report. Three are general references to Canada's participation in the space station Freedom and the International Space Station. The other mentions are more significant.

The US space program is scheduled to fly its last Space Shuttle mission late next year meaning Canada's astronauts will have to ride a Russian Soyuz rocket if they are to visit the International Space Station (ISS). The Russians have been charging space tourists $35 million US of late and will be charging the US space program $51 million US per flight starting in 2016 to fly on a Soyuz.

On October 5, 1984 astronaut Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space as he was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-41G. A quarter of a century later another 8 Canadians have flown into space for a total of 16 flights including the current mission by space participant Guy Laliberté.

Canada's newest astronauts Jeremy Hansen and David St-Jacques are undergoing training and have yet to be assigned to future missions.