Canada’s next astronaut to travel to the International Space Station says he feels a “sense of relief” knowing he’s that much closer to realizing his childhood dream.

“There is a sense of relief -- wow, all this hard work is coming to fruition,” David Saint-Jacques said in an interview with CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday, a day after the Canadian Space Agency announced that the engineer, astrophysicist and medical doctor will blast off on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station for a six-month mission in late 2018.

However, Saint-Jacques acknowledged that there’s still much to do on the road to the ISS. “There’s still two-plus years of hard training left in front of me.”

Saint-Jacques said he and his wife, who are parents of two young boys, have been “preparing for this for years.

“I’m lucky to have a very smart and dedicated wife.”

But, he added, they want this to be a “positive adventure” for his family and “it can be and it will.”

Saint-Jacques, who is from Quebec City, says he is grateful for the opportunity.

“It’s an amazing privilege as a Canadian to do this on behalf of everybody else,” he said. “I have to pinch myself that this actually stands a good chance of happening, so long as I do my training dutifully.”

When he was told he would be travelling to the ISS, Saint-Jacques said he thought back to his childhood ambitions, and “the little boy” who spent much of the time daydreaming.

“I made choices in my life that kept me healthy, kept me in school and kept me on my way to become an explorer, and lo and behold, here I stand with a good opportunity,” he said.

Space program 'stronger than ever'

Saint-Jacques said this is an “amazing” time for the world space program, which is “stronger than ever.”

He said more research is being conducted as astronauts put the ISS to good use. And, attention is shifting to new frontiers, such as Mars exploration.

“We’re thinking about who is going to do what and we’re so fortunate that Canada is part of that discussion because for a country like ours, space is fundamental,” he said.

Space research and exploration, Saint-Jacques said, impacts Canadians each day.

“Every 10 minutes we use satellites, every one of us, it is part of our nation’s infrastructure, it’s part of the modern Canada that we want.

“This is an intrinsic part of our economy, of our world.”