From late 2015 to summer 2017, I have been part of the Canadian Space Exploration Workshop topical team on High Energy Astrophysics. The aim of the workshop was for participants from academia and industry to exchange ideas and propose priorities in space science towards future space exploration missions. Our efforts resulted in a report, where we highlighted the priorities for the high energy astrophysics community in Canada. You can find our report here.

From the workshop, it became clear that Canadian astronomers are frustrated with the lack of funding and of a detailed plan for a space program. In collaboration with my then advisor, Jeremy Heyl, and Sarah Gallagher, professor at Western University, we reached out to exponents from different fields of space science (astronomy, planetary science and space health), as well as to members of the Canadian aerospace industry, in order to learn about their aspirations and priorities. From the input gathered from the different stakeholders, we wrote the white paper A Vision for Canadian Space Exploration, with the aim of presenting a new direction for the Canadian Space Program. In the paper, we stress out the importance of a strong space program for the science community, but also for the country’s innovation and education. Furthermore, we present a detailed structure of calls for proposals for missions of different sizes and a budget allocation plan which would be achievable with a reasonable increase in the funding to the Canadian Space Agency. We followed up this work with meetings with the different stakeholders, members of Parliament and with the Space Advisory Board. The Canadian astronomy community supports our plan, as can be seen in the pre-budget consultation of the Coalition for Canadian Astronomy.