Chris Hadfield’s ‘Space Oddity’ may soon be back online, despite Ottawa Citizen op-ed blaming David Bowie for its removal

Earlier this year, Chris Hadfield's wildly popular filmed-in-space cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" was removed from YouTube after a one-year licensing of the song expired.

In an op-ed piece for the Ottawa Citizen, Brock University professor Blayne Haggart blamed David Bowie for the removal.

"How does David Bowie’s ability – his right, under copyright law – to disappear Chris Hadfield’s stunning interpretation of Bowie’s 45-year-old song help anybody?" Haggart wrote. "Is the world a better place now that this piece of art has officially been scrubbed from existence?"

It turns out that Bowie had nothing to do with the removal of Hadfield's song — and he contacted the Ottawa Citizen himself to correct the story.

Bowie doesn't own or control the copyright to "Space Oddity," but still helped Hadfield get permission to use the song in the first place — at no cost from the publisher.

When the original license wasn't renewed by the publisher, the video was removed from YouTube. Bowie played no role in its removal.

Hadfield previously told media outlets he was working on a license renewal for the video.

The Ottawa Citizen published the corrections along with an apology:

"The article caused an immediate reaction by thousands of fans worldwide, and this incorrect information was picked up by hundreds of other news sources around the world," the paper posted online yesterday evening. "On behalf of Blayne Haggart and ourselves, we regret the error and we sincerely apologize to Mr. Bowie as well as all his fans around the world."

The original article has also been taken down from the website.

It appears that those upset by the disappearance of the first music video filmed in space can cheer up a bit. It won't be gone forever.

This morning, Hadfield posted a cryptic tweet, leading fans to believe his video will be back online soon.

Hadfield's son, Evan, who manages the astronaut's social media accounts wouldn't elaborate further, and told the Globe and Mail that they are "not taking interviews on 'Space Oddity' at the moment."

In the meantime, here's Flight of the Conchords' "Bowie's In Space" to tide us over: