Australia Offers Astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg for a 2028 Space Station Mission
Australia's federal government has sent the European Space Agency (ESA) an offer to fly astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg to the International Space Station (ISS), the crewed laboratory that orbits Earth. The proposed mission is slated for 2028. The Guardian reported the offer.
Bennell-Pegg is director of space technology at the Australian Space Agency, which is headquartered in South Australia. She completed 13 months of training with ESA in Germany and graduated as an astronaut in April 2024, alongside five peers. Australian Space Agency said she was the first Australian woman trained as an astronaut by ESA. She has since become eligible for future missions to the ISS and beyond.
Two Australian-born astronauts, Andy Thomas and Paul Scully-Power, have flown to space, but both did so as US citizens on NASA missions. According to the Guardian, the 2028 flight would mark the first time a qualified astronaut has flown to space under the Australian flag.
Funding is the main open question. Science minister Tim Ayres said philanthropists have committed more than $6 million in cash, plus in-kind support, which means non-cash contributions such as services or equipment. Entrepreneurs Dick Smith and Jim Whalley each pledged $1 million. Ayres and assistant science minister Andrew Charlton have written to state and territory leaders asking them to partner with the federal government to fund the mission. South Australia has publicly committed to supporting the bid.
The offer sits alongside a wider diplomatic step. The Australian Space Agency has said it has entered treaty-level discussions with ESA, which are talks aimed at a formal framework for closer cooperation between Australia and Europe. A treaty is a legally binding agreement between governments.
