Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk, an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, has been named as the third astronaut to fly on the Starliner-1 mission in 2025, following the spacecraft’s Crew Flight Test (CFT).

Kutryk joins NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke, who will serve as the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. Kutryk has been involved in mission-related activities with Tingle and Fincke, including seat fit checks and egress training. He has also spent time shadowing NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore in both Houston and at the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, as they prepare for CFT.

Kutryk is no stranger to testing Boeing aircraft. Not only was he a CF-18 fighter pilot and colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, but he evaluated new technologies and systems on the CF-18 Hornet, a tactical aircraft from Boeing heritage company McDonnell Douglas.

He told some Starliner teammates recently he feels privileged to be partnered with NASA and Boeing on this first long-duration flight of the Starliner spacecraft. Boeing’s partnership with Canada dates to 1919, when Bill Boeing made the first international airmail delivery to reach the United States from Vancouver to Seattle. Now, that partnership extends to space.

“I feel very fortunate to be part of this second crew,” Kutryk said.

A career of service

Kutryk has held the title of astronaut since January 2020 after being recruited by the Canadian Space Agency in 2017 and completing the Astronaut Candidate Training Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston. He previously worked as an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot in Cold Lake, Alberta, where he led the unit responsible for the operational flight testing of fighter aircraft in Canada. 

He was not only the officer in charge of fighter evaluations but also worked extensively as an instructor, teaching other pilots how to fly the CF-18 on demanding missions.

From 2007 to 2011, Colonel Kutryk served as a CF-18 fighter pilot with 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Bagotville, Quebec, including flying missions in support of NATO, U.N. and NORAD commitments around the world. He was deployed in both Libya and Afghanistan.

Among many honors throughout his career, in 2012 he received the prestigious Liethen-Tittle Award from the United States Air Force for being the branch’s top test pilot graduate.

Ties to Florida, home of the Starliner

In addition to a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Kutryk earned a master's degree in space studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide Campus. While he did not attend the Daytona Beach, Florida, main campus, he was able to take online courses through the university’s Worldwide Campus including while he was in Afghanistan. He earned another master’s degree in flight-test engineering from the United States Air Force's Air University in Alabama and a master's degree in defense studies from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

From the vast space of Earth to the possibilities beyond

Kutryk, who was raised on a cattle farm and is now married with two young children, was inspired to fly after riding on a light aircraft at age 9. He wanted to learn to fly and to understand the science and engineering behind flight. He was fascinated with space and knew his life would be focused on helping to explore it.

“I have always wanted to leave the world a better place than I found it, and I believe that space is one area where I can make such a contribution,” Kutryk said in an interview with the Canadian Space Agency.

Through his experiences as a test pilot, he has enjoyed the challenges of testing new technical systems aboard high-performance jets.

As Kutryk said in the article, “I got to work with aerospace engineers, analysts, aircraft technicians, program managers and corporate executives, all with the goal of making the F-18 safer and more effective in its mission.”

In addition to training for Starliner-1, Kutryk has been training since 2021 to be the Ascent and Entry CAPCOM, also known as capsule communicator, for Wilmore and Williams on CFT. The CAPCOM is the communication liaison between the astronauts and the Mission Control Center in Houston.

By Deborah Circelli