Canadians will find out within the next month the identity of the country's two newest astronauts.
A Canadian Space Agency official says in an email the latest additions to the Canadian astronaut corps will be announced within the next four weeks.
The agency's fourth recruitment campaign received thousands of applications, but the field has been whittled down to five women and 12 men.
The 12 Canadian astronauts selected from the three previous campaigns have taken part in 16 space missions.
Only two of them have been women Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette.
Canada's space roster was at its peak during the summer of 1992 when there were 10 active astronauts.
Currently, there are only Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques, who is scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station in November 2018.