Katherine Bennell-Pegg

Katherine Maureen Bennell-Pegg (born 15 December 1984) is an Australian space engineer and qualified astronaut, although she has not as yet flown in space. she is director of space technology at the Australian Space Agency, an Australian government agency. In 2024, she became the first qualified astronaut under the Australian flag as well as the first female Australian to be trained as an astronaut. In January 2026 she was named 2026 Australian of the Year.

Early life and education Katherine Bennell-Pegg was born on 15 December 1984 in Sydney and grew up in the Northern Beaches area. She attended Queenwood School for Girls in Mosman. graduating in 2007.

Upon completion of her double degrees, Bennell-Pegg received an Erasmus Mundus full scholarship to study in Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands as part of the Joint European Master in Space Science and Technology programme. Under this program, she completed a Masters of Science in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University in England and a Masters of Science in Space Technology at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, at the NASA Ames Research Center. The 131 participants from 35 countries undertook three projects: ACCESS Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions; SAFEN EARTH: Space Aid for Energy Needs on Earth; and DREAM: Disaster Risk Evaluation and Management.

Bennell-Pegg also served in the Australian Army Reserve, for which she was awarded the Sword of Honour and the Sir Thomas Blamey Memorial Award.

Career Bennell-Pegg is a qualified professional astronaut and space engineer, although has not been into space.

Airbus Bennell-Pegg's first job after her MScs was as a mission systems engineer at Airbus UK and Airbus Defence and Space Germany, where she worked as a project manager, lead systems engineer, and service operations lead from 2014 to 2019. In her various roles at Airbus, she worked as a thermal architect on the LISA Pathfinder project; contributed to advanced ISRU (in-situ resource utilisation) technologies and a Martian vehicle design; developed an InSAR mission concept to measure ocean surface currents; and headed a team tasked with designing concepts for Orion missions. in the first intake since 2009. However, the Australian Space Agency sponsored her training with the European Space Agency (ESA), announcing in March 2023 that she would train alongside the mission crew at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) Bennell-Pegg was one of a class of six, selected from 225,000 applicants worldwide.

Bennell-Pegg became the first Australian woman to qualify as an astronaut, and the first person to train as an astronaut under the Australian flag. Previous Australian-born astronauts, Paul Scully-Power and Andy Thomas, flew to space as US citizens representing NASA.

Royal Australian Air Force On 5 December 2024, Bennell-Pegg was appointed as a reservist group captain in the Royal Australian Air Force in the role of a specialist capability officer in the Air Force Reserve. Her duties include instructing and informing colleagues about human performance optimisation, space capabilities and technologies, and how to build the necessary resilience for a resourceful, ready and inclusive workforce.

Awaiting space flight , Bennell-Pegg is still waiting to be called up to undertake a space flight.

Other activities and roles In November 2009 it was announced that Bennell-Pegg, future husband Campbell Pegg, and a third student had conceived and developed the idea for a reality TV series named Starwalker, which would select and train two amateur astronauts. Jonathan Nolan, a disbarred attorney, was listed as showrunner and executive producer. The press release mentioned the participation of physicist Stephen Hawking, but a representative for Hawking later denied any involvement. The three students left the project a few weeks after the announcement, and it was continued by Nolan. The couple issued a statement saying that they had presented their idea to Greg Smith, who had brought in Nolan, but they had disassociated themselves from the project on 7 December 2009 and had received no financial benefit from it. The project later collapsed amid claims of financial mismanagement.

In 2022, Bennell-Pegg delivered The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering Innovation Lecture. 2023: Overall winner in addition to the winner of the Leader of the Year category at the Woman of the Year Awards in Adelaide 2024: SA Life Person of the Year 2024 January 2026: named Australian of the Year for 2026

Personal life Bennell-Pegg has volunteered with SA Surf Life Saving, NSW State Emergency Service, and Engineers Without Borders Australia. She has enjoyed hobbies such as scuba diving, flying, surfing, basketball, sports coaching, tennis, reading, hiking, and cycling. she lives in the Adelaide suburb of West Beach, with her husband and two children.