Government offers astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg an ISS mission with ESA
The federal government has asked the European Space Agency to fly astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg to the International Space Station on a mission slated for 2028, which would be the first flight to space by a qualified astronaut under the Australian flag.
Government offers astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg an ISS mission with ESA
An offer to the ESA
The federal government has sent an offer to the European Space Agency to send astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg to the International Space Station, in what would be the first katherine bennell-pegg ISS mission of its kind. Science minister Tim Ayres announced the decision on Friday. The mission, slated for 2028, would see a qualified astronaut fly to space under the Australian flag for the first time.
The offer follows treaty-level discussions the Australian Space Agency announced with the ESA in May, aimed at establishing a formal framework for Australia-Europe cooperation.
How the mission would be funded
The flight was previously described by the office of science minister Tim Ayres as "a very expensive undertaking" which no government alone could fund. Announcing the offer, Ayres said the government has been engaging extensively with the private sector, philanthropists, and other levels of government to raise funding to support a space flight.
- Philanthropists have committed over $6m in cash, plus in-kind support, and some indicative support has come from some state governments, according to Ayres.
- Entrepreneurs Dick Smith and Jim Whalley each pledged $1m for the mission.
- In August, Ayres and assistant science minister Andrew Charlton wrote to state and territory leaders asking them to "partner" with the federal government on funding.
- The August letter described it as a "complete Australian mission that includes locally developed experiments and technology".
Who Katherine Bennell-Pegg is
Bennell-Pegg is director of space technology at the Australian Space Agency and completed astronaut training with the ESA in 2024. The ASA paid $466,000 for her to complete that training at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.
Other Australians have reached space before her, but none as a qualified astronaut flying under the national flag. Andy Thomas and Paul Scully-Power, both Australian-born, flew on Nasa missions as US citizens, and Elaine Hyde, a dual Australian and US citizen, took a suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin NS-30 last year.
Earlier this month, in a speech, she described space as "a gateway – a lure – into the full breadth of STEM fields. Especially for those that dream of going up".
Support and scepticism
South Australia, where the ASA is headquartered, has publicly committed to supporting Bennell-Pegg's space bid. Premier Peter Malinauskas said South Australia stands ready to partner with the commonwealth in what should be a national endeavour, adding that nothing would motivate young people more to take up these fields than seeing Australia's first ever flagged astronaut in space.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has also backed the campaign, saying the project makes long-term economic sense for Australia beyond the usual sensibilities of the Treasury bean counters. Darin Lovett, chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia, said the industry had a strong track record of return on investment.
For around $100m, less than the price of a single coffee for every Australian adult, this is not a ticket to space.
That was Lovett's framing of the roughly $100m cost, which he called a down payment on Australia's future in a defining industry.
Not everyone is convinced. Macquarie University physics and astronomy professor Richard de Grijs said Bennell-Pegg is qualified, has undergone significant training, and is set to go up if a suitable mission can be found - but questioned whether sending the Australian of the Year to space is worth an estimated $100m. He noted Australia is already involved in inspirational spaceflight through Roo-ver, an Australian-built lunar rover that will be sent to the moon on a Nasa mission in 2030.
By de Grijs's account, Bennell-Pegg is set to fly once a suitable mission can be found.
