Canada will feel the impact ‘severely’ if NASA cuts funding: expert

York University's Paul Delaney breaks down how $6-billion in cuts to NASA's funding may pave the way for China to dominate the space race.

As NASA faces the threat of US$6 billion in cuts under U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget request, one astronomy expert says Canada will certainly feel the impact if the drastic financial reductions go through.

Paul Delaney, former director of the Allan I. Carswell Astronomical Observatory, told CTV Your Morning on Thursday the budget cuts will severely impact every single program in NASA, making it the largest financial assault on the space agency in history.

In turn, it could position other countries, namely China, to take the lead in space exploration. China is swiftly pushing forward in space exploration, with plans to put humans on the moon by early 2030.

“There is little doubt that…(NASA) will take second place,” Delaney said.

He also expects that the financial threat to the space agency will lead to more privatization in the sector.

Delaney said the cuts to NASA’s budget will directly impact not just the Canadian Space Agency, but all researchers that are involved in space science.

One item that Delaney says may be on the chopping block is the latest version of the Canada Arm, or Canadarm3, which is the country’s contribution to the U.S.-led Gateway project, a space station in lunar orbit.

“The impact on Canada, in terms of both hardware generation, as well as research, could be extremely significant, forcing us of course to go elsewhere to lend our expertise,” he said.

Delaney adds that the fall out from the budget cuts will run deeper than putting “boots on Mars”.

“Your cellphone technology has been powered in very large measure by the types of activities we’ve developed going into space,” he said. “The spin-offs are almost incalculable.”

CNN reported on Thursday that more than 2,000 agency employees are set to voluntarily leave NASA in the coming months under the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program, introduced by former Trump ally Elon Musk, who is CEO of NASA’s largest contractor, SpaceX.