one giant leap for concordia: mark pathy’s $15m donation launches space institute

concordia university has announced the launch of the mark pathy space institute at the gina cody school of engineering and computer science, made possible by a $15-million gift from the 56-year-old montreal entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and astronaut.concordia says the institute will serve as a hub for research, student training and industry partnerships, supported by pathy’s donation of an off-campus facility for engine testing, hardware verification and other technical experimentation. it will also provide staffing, technical operations and research initiatives across space systems, navigation and human space flight.the space institute will be canada’s only university environment in which the domains of robotics, propulsion, human space health and sustainability will coexist within a single research ecosystem, the university explained.at wednesday's announcement, held in the theatre in the university's hall building, concordia president graham carr, gina cody school dean mourad debbabi and university chancellor gina cody were among those who lauded pathy’s vision and commitment.for his part, pathy said, “i saw genuine alignment of interests, objectives and values — and i believe that by investing in students, research and real-world experimentation, concordia can help ensure the next generation of space innovators build their future, and canada’s, right here at home.”pathy was the second canadian private citizen to visit the international space station. (cirque du soleil co-founder guy laliberté was there in 2009.) he flew as a mission specialist on axiom mission 1, the first fully private mission to the space station, in collaboration with nasa and spacex, a private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded by elon musk in 2002.his hope, pathy said in an interview, is for the space institute that bears his name to have an impact on canada’s participation in the global space economy.although canada represents less than two per cent of the global gdp, “to me, based on our experience and expertise in aerospace, robotics, software and ai and advanced engineering, canada should have a disproportionately large share of the space economy. we are currently underperforming in that area."the global space economy is projected to reach $1 trillion within the next decade, and pathy said universities will play a critical role in developing the next generation of engineers, researchers and innovators who will lead that transformation.“i think that focusing on talent development, on industry, collaboration, on research and development and, i would say, on allocating capital to those initiatives is essential for canada to remain relevant and competitive and to enjoy or share more of this growing new economy. and i think that this program touches on all of those."axiom mission 1 involved a crew of four, including pathy, aboard a spacex crew dragon spacecraft, which launched april 8, 2022 from the kennedy space center. the other mission specialist was eytan stibbe, an israeli businessman and former fighter pilot. michael lópez-alegría, a spanish-american professionally trained astronaut hired by axiom space and a former nasa astronaut, was the commander, and the pilot was american real estate and technology entrepreneur larry connor.the mission marked the first time nasa had agreed to work with a private company to allow civilians to live and work on its side of the space station, pathy said. “when we were actually on the launch pad and the engines were firing up, it was such a wonderful, amazing moment, not just because we were about to experience something really incredible and new, but the fact it was actually happening."although the effect of viewing earth from space, known as the overview effect, is universally experienced by people seeing the world from space, it is “notoriously hard to describe,” pathy said.

photo courtesy of concordia university. /

“you feel a sense of oneness with other humans, a sense of belonging to earth as a planet, more than necessarily a specific country or region or municipality and … of the beauty and fragility of the earth as well,” he said."we have this little gem of a planet we all call home, protected by this tiny little bubble. ... it doesn’t seem that much for that bubble to be burst, figuratively and literally.”(a nasa definition of the earth’s atmosphere is as “a very shallow, fragile layer of gases held by gravity, appearing from space as a narrow blue band. if earth were the size of a basketball, the atmosphere would be thinner than a sheet of plastic wrapped around it.”)“certainly, it was a pretty powerful and emotional experience. i cried at that moment ... and it strengthened my own personal resolve once i returned to make the world a better place.“for us as a species to explore and inhabit other parts of the galaxy requires collaboration between public and private,” pathy said. “it’s about more than career astronauts going into space.”to pathy, “space tourism is an important part of funding infrastructure for deeper space exploration. and because of the potentially life-changing nature of an experience in space, whether it is for a few minutes or a few days or a few months, i am very much in favour of increasing access to space — even if it is on a short-term basis.”

that said, he distinguishes between a tourist flight and “what we were doing, which was about research and science.” preparing to live and work on the international space station for 15 days required seven months of full-time training, for one. and during his mission, pathy conducted scientific research projects, technology demonstrations, earth observation photography and stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) outreach initiatives with canadian institutions and partners. he worked with doctors and scientists at the research institute of the montreal children’s hospital — he sits on the board of the hospital's foundation — for some of the programming; the canadian space agency put him in touch with other researchers, and the royal canadian geographical society also reached out to him.

allen mcinnis / montreal gazette

after his return from his mission, "someone from concordia was at a dinner someone else had arranged and we got to talking about space," he told the gazette. "they invited me to see what their nascent space society was working on, mainly in their spare time, with limited budget." (space concordia is an award-winning, multidisciplinary student space program at the university.) "discussions unfolded from there to create something more extensive in terms of educating and training students, testing and, ultimately, commercialization.“it all aligned with what i was feeling about the rapidly growing space economy and canada’s opportunities — or lack thereof — as a canadian wanting to be involved in growing that kind of space economy,” he said.the mark pathy space institute will be overseen by debbabi of the gina cody school and guided by an advisory board to be chaired by pathy. concordia plans to leverage the gift to attract additional funding from government and industry partners to ensure the institute’s long-term sustainability, the university said in a statement.pathy said he plans to be involved “to the extent i can be helpful, whether speaking at student events or lectures.” the institute bears his name, after all, and “obviously, i want it to be successful.”sschwartz@postmedia.com