Grants awarded under the FAST 2025 Announcement of Opportunity
Funding for space research and development, with a focus on training the next generation of experts
Through its Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) funding initiative, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) supports the development of space science and technology and enables students and young researchers to gain hands-on experience in space-like missions. Grants are issued to Canadian post-secondary institutions following a competitive process.
The main objectives of the FAST Announcement of Opportunity (AO) were to:
- Develop and maintain a critical mass of researchers and highly qualified personnel (HQP) in space-related fields
- Increase scientific knowledge and/or contribute to the development of new technologies
- Increase the value of students for future employers in the space sector by exposing them to practical experiences that enable them to acquire sought-after space science and technology knowledge and skills within the space sector
As of , the CSA has awarded 15 grants under the FAST AO representing $5.4 million to Canadian post-secondary institutions to advance space science and technology, while training the next generation of space experts. A description of the supported projects and their respective funding amounts are presented below under three funding categories:
Category A
The institutions listed below were awarded grants of up to $450,000 for projects that do not need access to a CSA-supported research platform and that require substantial expenditures from service providers. Projects in this category may last up to three years.
| Institution | Grant value | Project | Principal investigator |
|---|---|---|---|
| McGill University, Quebec |
$436,456 | Metal combustion technology for in-situ space resource utilization and orbital debris removal: Sounding rocket, parabolic flights and ground-based studies | Dr. Jeff Bergthorson |
| Carleton University, Ontario |
$436,500 | Integrating drone and satellite short-wave infrared (SWIR) and thermal sensors for improved monitoring of peatland wetness and fire dynamics | Dr. Koreen Millard |
| University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan |
$436,500 | An open-source radiation-tolerant microcontroller with advanced Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET) technology for future space mission control and on-board data processing | Dr. Chen Li |
| York University, Ontario |
$436,500 | Mars Atmospheric Gas Evolution – Flying Localization Investigation MAGE-FLI | Dr. John Moores |
| University of Waterloo, Ontario |
$426,800 | Simulating Terrestrial Snow Mass Mission Measurements: Ku- and L-band Airborne Cryosphere-Observing synthetic aperture radar (CryoSAR) Observations of Seasonal Snow Water Equivalent in Forested Landscapes | Dr. Richard Kelly |
| Simon Fraser University, British Columbia |
$436,296 | Advancing SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging for Next-Generation Satellite Sensors and Carbon Monitoring | Dr. Bing Lu |
| University of Toronto, Ontario |
$436,500 | Bioprinting to Biopreservation: Suborbital Validation of INSITE and Cryo Cell Therapy Development | Dr. Axel Guenther |
Category B
The institutions listed below were awarded grants of up to $300,000 for projects that need access to a CSA-supported research platform or that do not require substantial expenditures from service providers. Projects in this category may last up to three years.
| Institution | Grant value | Project | Principal investigator |
|---|---|---|---|
| McGill University, Quebec |
$289,568 | Precision radio cosmology from the Canadian high Arctic with MIST and ALBATROS | Dr. Hsin Cynthia Chiang |
| Queen's University, Ontario |
$291,000 | The Second-Generation Balloon-borne Very Large Baseline Interferometry Experiment | Dr. Laura Fissel |
| University of Toronto, Ontario |
$290,198 | Payload for Energetic Particle Precipitation Education and Research eXperiment (PEPPER‐X) | Dr. Sean Hum |
| York University, Ontario |
$291,000 | Pixelized, Flexible Sensing Network Using Laser-Induced Graphene for Health Monitoring | Dr. Cuiying Jian |
| York University, Ontario |
$291,000 | Food Production in Space: 3D-Printed Capillary Hydroponics with Multi-Ion Organic Electrochemical Transistor Sensing for Detecting Faults and Optimizing Growth | Dr. Gerd Grau |
| University of Guelph, Ontario |
$291,000 | Evaluating Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technology readiness in reduced pressure environments | Dr. Nima Tabatabaei |
| York University, Ontario |
$288,090 | Molecularly Imprinted Opto-Fluidic Platform for Ultra-Sensitive Detection and Quantification of Biomarkers in Space | Dr. Paula Foster |
| McGill University, Quebec |
$270,324 | Space Simulation Chamber Testing of Laser-Thermal Propulsion as an Enabler of Human Spaceflight to Mars | Dr. Andrew Higgins |
Category C
This funding category was for projects of up to $20,000 at the college/undergraduate level that support research through experiments on low-cost research platforms. Projects in this category could last up to two years. No institutions were awarded a grant under this funding category.