Calgary 
Canada is sending another astronaut to the International Space Station, and this time it marks a first.
Credit: Canadian Space Agency
Colonel Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency has been assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission, with launch planned no earlier than mid-September 2026 from Florida. It will be his first trip to space.
Kutryk will join NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The crew is expected to spend about six months aboard the station.
Kutryk becomes the first Canadian astronaut to fly under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and the fourth to take part in a long-duration stay on the station .
Once in orbit, his work will focus largely on science. He is set to run international and Canadian experiments, many tied to human health, while also supporting day-to-day station operations. The research happening there continues to shape how humans might live and work in space for longer missions, including future plans tied to the Moon.
Born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Kutryk served as a CF-18 fighter pilot and later as a test pilot before being selected as an astronaut in 2017. Since completing training in 2020, he has worked behind the scenes in Houston, guiding spacewalks and supporting daily station operations.
His path to Crew-13 was not direct. He had originally been assigned to the Starliner-1 mission, which NASA later shifted to an uncrewed cargo flight. That change opened the door for this new assignment.
Kutryk will be the eighth Canadian astronaut to reach the space station.
Per the news release, Canada’s space sector contributed $3.4 billion to GDP in 2023 and supports more than 26,000 jobs, underscoring how space exploration continues to shape both science and the economy.
