Canada's astronauts will fly to space by 2024. Here's why

Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 5:31 PM - Thanks to a renewed pledge of support for the International Space Station, the Canadian government has earned two seats to space for our nation's astronauts, Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques.

A year ago, the schedule of flights to the International Space Station was not favouring Canada's astronauts.

Neither Jeremy Hansen nor David Saint-Jacques were on the list to fly, and there was only one slot potentially open for them by the end of the decade. This meant that, even after Colonel Chris Hadfield's amazing stint as commander of the space station back in 2012-2013, only one of these two men was likely going to go to space, and even then, it was going to be quite a wait for their chance, if it ever came.

As of now, though, the chances of both making it up to the space station are looking up, literally and figuratively.

On Tuesday, June 2, Industry Minister James Moore announced Canada's renewed commitment to the International Space Station, through 2024, with the Canadian Space Agency providing $10.5 million in support for the Canadarm2, Dextre and the Mobile Base.

Along with this commitment comes two seats on future missions to the ISS for Canadian astronauts.

"Chris Hadfield made Canadians proud when he became the first Canadian to walk in space and command the International Space Station," Moore said in a statement. "Our government is committed to ensuring two more Canadians fly to space within the next decade. More importantly, it confirms a great future for Canada in space for years to come."

According to the press release, one of the two astronauts is guaranteed a spot on a mission by 2019, while the other will fly before 2024. Which one goes first will depend on the specific mission requirements at the time.

"I am delighted that Canada has committed to extending its participation in the International Space Station (ISS) through 2024, and its support for other exciting initiatives with NASA in space and Earth Science including the James Webb Space Telescope and the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "The Canadian Space Agency's Mobile Servicing System, robotics expertise and crew members continue to provide critical contributions to the ISS program. A commitment to continuing to utilize this tremendous resource will enable the international research community to accomplish important goals including cutting-edge research and technology development that will enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including asteroids and Mars. We look forward to our future cooperation."

Science, on the ISS and on Mars

In addition to renewed commitments to the robotic and human crews of the International Space Station, four science experiments, led by researchers from Canadian universities, will be headed to the station in the fall. As with many experiments that fly to the ISS, these will focus on the effects of a zero-g environment and space travel on human health.

Canada is also extending its participation in the mission of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover by two years, specifically in supporting the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument, located at the end of Curiosity's arm. This instrument, designed and led by scientists at the University of Guelph, has been analyzing rocks and soil on Mars since the rover arrived in 2012. With the continuation of Canada's involvement in the mission, this represents a significant investment in the sciences at both the University of Guelph, where the science team is led from, and the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), for their support in analyzing data collected by the instrument.

According to Moore's outlining of Canada's Space Policy Framework, in February 2014, the country's space industry employs nearly 10,000 people and contributes over $3.3 billion annually to the Canadian economy.

Source: Gov't of Canada

WATCH BELOW: Industry Minister James Moore discusses Canada's role in space, as well as our commitments to projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope - the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.