Mum Katherine Bennell-Pegg becomes first woman to train as an astronaut under the Australian flag

As a child Katherine Bennell-Pegg would look up to the night sky in awe of the great unknown and dreamt of one day becoming an astronaut exploring the universe.

Now she will make history as the first Australian woman to be trained as an astronaut by an international space agency.

The 38-year-old relocated to Germany with her husband and two daughters to complete her training with the European Space Agency. 

But the road to success has been rocky over the last decade, Katherine told FEMAIL, as she admits the career choice is ‘no luxury’. 

The job has rigorous physical demands, and the challenge of ongoing courses for the rest of her career.

‘There’s no linear path to being an astronaut. The criteria are always evolving. There may be no opportunities to apply in your career, or just a small few,’ Katherine told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘There is a lot of luck involved. But it does still require hard work and perseverance to be eligible and competitive in the selection process.’

While other Aussie woman have trained to be astronauts internationally, they have always done so under their other nationality’s flag – making Katherine the first to do so with the Australian flag on her arm.

The 38-year-old relocated to Germany with her husband and two daughters to complete her training with the European Space Agency

Having grown up on Sydney’s northern beaches before moving to Adelaide in 2019, this busy go-getter is always looking for her next best thing.

And it seems Katherine won’t let anything stand in the way of her achieving her out-of-this-world goals.

The high achiever has two Bachelor degrees, two Masters degrees, and is now the Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency.

At university she studied physics and space engineering despite knowing ‘nothing’ about engineering. She simply applied for the course because it had the word ‘space’ in it.

Katherine has now spent over a decade developing space missions, technologies and programs across more than six countries.

‘I’ve realised that space has so much more to offer than just adventure,’ she said, adding: ‘It plays a vital role in tackling real-world problems and developing new knowledge that can benefit our society, environment and science.

‘It’s been a privilege to play a part in shaping our growing space sector in Australia.’

Katherine will train for the next 14 months completing intense courses (pictured inside a simulator)

Katherine will train for the next 14 months overseas and graduate to becoming an Astronaut, rather than her current status as ‘Astronaut Candidate’.

Once assigned to a mission, pre-mission training takes around about two years. 

‘We have an intense training schedule during basic training, with our day strictly scheduled by the training team,’ she explained. 

‘Each part of the basic training is quite different. So far, we have a mix of classroom lessons, practical lessons in labs, and time in the gym.’  

Under this ‘basic’ training course, topics span across winter and ocean survival, medical emergency training, robotics training, spacewalk training, fluid science and more. 

Despite all the hoops she’s needed to jump through to make her dream a reality, Katherine said the biggest hurdle has been relocating her husband and two kids internationally to Germany.

Near the start of her journey she was one of 22,000 hopefuls wanting to be chosen by the European Space Agency. And despite going through an 18-month process, she made the top 25 but not the last 17. 

Katherine has not yet made her first voyage into space but says it’s an honour to represent her country. 

Katherine has not yet made her first voyage into space but says it’s an honour to represent Australia 

She grew up in Sydney’s northern beaches before moving to Adelaide in 2019  

The ecstatic mum has had some epic experiences over the years, rom floating weightless inside a zero gravity plane to help build part of a new international space station. 

Such a unique career not only takes dedication but also patience, brains and confidence.

But the ecstatic mum has never looked back. 

‘At high school, we had to write down three different options for what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wrote one: astronaut and refused to add any others,’ she said. 

And she’ll finally be able to live her childhood dream.  

Such a unique career not only takes dedication but also patience, brains and confidence. But the ecstatic mum has never looked back (pictured flying in 2022)