Canada appoints astronaut Jeremy Hansen as space adviser amid shift from U.S. partnerships

OTTAWA · Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed astronaut Jeremy Hansen as a special adviser on space. Hansen said in a video posted Tuesday on social media that he is "just super excited to serve Canada in that role." The role involves advising Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on developing a new space strategy. The appointment comes as the United States takes note of Canada's efforts to shift its space partnerships toward Europe and away from American private firms like SpaceX.

Hansen, who travelled around the moon on the Artemis II mission in April, said there is significant opportunity to leverage Canada's position. "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," he said. 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 on Tuesday.

Joly said she is also getting feedback from other Canadian astronauts and aerospace sector representatives on the strategy "in order to accelerate innovation and reinforce our international partnerships." The offices of Carney and Joly did not respond to requests for details on Hansen's role, including its end date and compensation. The announcement follows a separate move by the Department of National Defence to bolster Canada's independent launch capacity. On Wednesday, Defence Minister David McGuinty announced a $20 million agreement on the use of a space launch complex in southern Newfoundland, building on a March agreement for a complex in Nova Scotia. McGuinty's department said in a news release that reliable and independent launch access will enable Canada to place critical satellites into orbit during global uncertainty or disruptions. "With military, emergency response and government services increasingly dependent on space-based systems, sovereign launch [capacity] protects national interests and enables continuity of operations," the release stated.

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U.S. warns of seeking other partners

The diplomatic context for Hansen's appointment was highlighted at the SpaceBound 2026 Conference on Tuesday. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told the conference that Canada has decided to "move away" from 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 Canada is not interested in partnering with the firm founded by Elon Musk, who has close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.

"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? OK. That's fine," Hoekstra said. He added that the United States will always have a "bias" toward the private sector. "What we fight in the United States all the time is to make sure that we never come in and over-regulate it. We've had to fight that, in the digital world.… We'll probably have to fight this in the space realm," he said.

Hoekstra also commented on broader defence co-operation, noting the F-35 jet is "the best fighter in the world." He did not directly mention Ottawa's decision to pause a planned purchase of F-35s. "We also recognize that Canada's going through a re-evaluation of how they want to move forward on defence," he said. Hoekstra said Washington is waiting to see whether Canada wants to continue decades of airspace co-operation through Norad, referencing President Trump's recent security deal with Greenland.

"We're waiting to see exactly where Canada wants to go on this," Hoekstra said. "We'd love to do it with Canada. It would be very, very helpful. But at the same time, and I've said this for the past year and a half, we are not standing still." The ambassador's remarks show the geopolitical tensions surrounding Canada's space and defence policy reviews as it works to finalize its new space strategy with Hansen's advice.

With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and Global News