Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk set to launch on first spaceflight

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk is scheduled to launch on his inaugural spaceflight to the International Space Station for a six-month mission after Sept. 12, 2026.

He will fly under the designation Crew-13 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule named Grace, alongside Americans Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney and Russian Sergey Sergeyevich Teteryatnikov.

This launch is the 13th crewed mission flown by SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

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"It's not so much about necessarily accomplishing big goals, as it is to have them," Kutryk told a group of Royal Canadian Air Cadets on April 8, 2026.

"When I was six years old, I had a dream of one day wearing this suit. There were no clear steps to follow to accomplish it, but the important thing was that I had this goal."

Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, was originally assigned to fly on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner-1 mission in 2023, but that mission was changed to an uncrewed cargo flight due to spacecraft performance concerns.

Your Space Hamilton reported in September that Kutryk will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on Oct. 1 after a delay from the original September date.

His flight comes less than six months after fellow RCAF colonel Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian to fly beyond low-Earth orbit as part of the Artemis II mission around the Moon.

Both Kutryk and Hansen are accomplished CF-18 Hornet pilots and were shortlisted in the 2009 Canadian Space Agency astronaut selection competition.

Kutryk was successfully selected in the next campaign alongside Dr. Jenni Gibbons, and the pair joined NASA's Astronaut Group 22 for training from August 2017 to January 2020.

His commander for Crew-13, Jessica Watkins, was also a classmate in that group.

Kutryk holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and three master's degrees in space studies, flight test engineering and defence studies.

He served as a CF-18 pilot, an experimental test pilot and later led the unit responsible for operational testing of fighter aircraft in Canada.

In 2021, he began working with the Starliner team in Houston and served as capsule communicator for the first crewed test flight of that vehicle.

Responding to a question from a cadet about academic planning, Kutryk advised against focusing solely on becoming an astronaut.

"You should pick something that really inspires you, something that you're passionate about, that you can follow for your whole life," he said.

He noted that astronaut selection boards look for a pattern of successful learning and application of complex material, not specific courses of study.

The mission may coincide with a personal milestone, as Kutryk's spouse is due to deliver their third child late this year, around the midpoint of the six-month flight.

In early 2024, Kutryk shared that the three stars on his personal mission patch represented his family, leading to speculation among collectors about a potential update.

His launch continues a period of high activity for Canadian astronauts, following the recent flight of Jeremy Hansen.

With files from Skies Mag