The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has allocated up to $5.5 million for the 2025 Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) program.
The CSA posted the 2025 FAST announcement of opportunity (AO) on its website this week.
FAST is open to Canadian universities and post-secondary institutions and the funding is in the form of grants.
The CSA states that the FAST program opportunity “is to support research projects in Canadian universities and post-secondary institutions that will contribute to the development of new scientific knowledge and space technologies, while giving students hands-on experience in space-like missions or in building a payload destined for space.”
The following research disciplines are eligible. (See the AO for specific details on what is and isn’t eligible)
- Innovative Space Technology
- Space Health and Life Science
- Space Astronomy and Planetary Science
- Food Production for Space
- Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences
- Solar-Terrestrial Science
Funding is divided intro three categories:
Category A: Up to $450,000 for a project of up to three years, for projects that are not requesting access to a CSA-supported research platform and that require substantial expenditures1 from service providers.
Category B: Up to $300,000 for a project of up to three years, for projects requesting access to a CSA-supported research platform or that do not require substantial expenditures from service providers.
Category C: Up to $20,000 for a project of up to two years, for projects at the college/undergraduate level that support research through experiments on low-cost research platforms.
The CSA estimates the start dates for FAST as being in March/April 2026. The application deadline is October 6, 2025, at 1:00 pm (ET).
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