Carney appoints astronaut Jeremy Hansen to advise government on new space strategy

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Jeremy Hansen as a special adviser on space — just as the United States takes note of Canada’s efforts to shift its space partnerships toward Europe. “I’m just super excited to serve Canada in that role,” Hansen said in a video he posted Monday on social media. “There’s so much opportunity to leverage this position that we’re already in, to do more to provide for our sovereignty, our security, our quality of life on the planet — and at the same time, make significant contributions on the global stage.” The role involves advising Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, Hansen said.

In April, as part of the Artemis II mission, Hansen and three other astronauts travelled around the moon and further out into space than any humans before them. Joly said Hansen proposed helping the government “develop a new space strategy” when he left the Canadian Space Agency. “We had a conversation of how he could continue to have an impact, to contribute, to serve,” she said at an event Monday.

Joly said she’s getting feedback from other Canadian astronauts and people in the aerospace sector on the strategy “in order to accelerate innovation and reinforce our international partnerships.” The offices of Carney and Joly did not immediately respond when asked for details of Hansen’s role, such as its end date and compensation. Hansen’s appointment comes as Canada looks to expand co-operation with European countries in space — and as Washington warns it could seek partners other than Canada for its space missions. Joly spoke Monday at the SpaceBound 2026 Conference.

Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told that same conference that Canada has decided to “move away” from the American firm SpaceX. “Canada has said that, ‘We’re going to take a look at the European Space Agency, we’re going do more with them,'” he said. Hoekstra said it was helpful to know that Canada is not interested in partnering with the firm founded by billionaire Elon Musk, who has close ties to U.S.

“It’s kind of like, wow, Canada is really saying for all the investment, all the innovation, all the excellence that is being driven by Elon, we don’t want to be a part of it? Hoekstra said the United States will always have a “bias” toward the private sector. “Competition breeds excellence,” he said.