Women in Space: #EmbraceEquity
This week, let's celebrate not only International Women's Day, but also Women in Space. Our overview of the challenges of the space industry, great role models and what we all can do to support this.
This week, the world is commemorating International Women's Day (March 8), a global event that recognizes the social, economic, cultural, and political accomplishments of women. At Space Ambition, we are proud to celebrate this occasion and honor women's achievements in space.
Dry numbers and sad facts
According to publicly available data, only 40 space tech start-ups have been founded by women, which represents a tiny fraction of all space start-ups. The number of women employed in the international space industry represents just 20-22 percent of the workforce, according to figures released by the UN; roughly the same proportion as 30 years ago. So far, only 73 female astronauts have completed space flights, accounting for approximately 12% of all space travelers.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Garvey McIntosh, NASA Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, who explained the significance of the name of the Artemis mission. In ancient Greek mythology, Garvey mentioned, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, whose name was used for the first missions to the Moon. The Apollo missions took 12 humans to the Moon, all of them were white men. However, in the 50 years since the Apollo missions, the world and space exploration have undergone significant changes. Now, the twin sister Artemis is set to carry the first female astronaut and astronaut of color to the moon. It's important to note that there are physiological differences between male and female bodies, including more sensitivity to radiation for women. That is why the Artemis mission is addressing this issue head-on. The first mission tested a special vest with extra protection designed specifically for female astronauts.
We firmly believe that diverse role models can inspire and empower individuals to pursue careers and make positive changes in the world. In recognition of this, we have chosen a selection of exemplary women across the industry to showcase this idea. Regardless of the field that girls or women choose to pursue, whether it is joining a space agency, working for an aerospace corporation, becoming an astronaut or a scientist, founding a start-up, becoming an investor in space technology, or even becoming a space TikTok influencer, there are already numerous successful women worldwide who have made strides in these areas, and connecting with them can provide a source of inspiration.
Space Agencies’ female leaders
There have been many noteworthy women who have held top positions in various space agencies around the world. For example, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is NASA's first female launch director who was responsible for the liftoff of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft during its first flight test, called Artemis I. Sarah Al Amiri is the chair of the UAE Space Agency and Deputy Project Manager of the Emirates Mars Mission. Lisa Campbell is the current president of the Canadian Space Agency, Anna Sirica served as the head of the Italian Space Agency from 2015 to 2019, and Oyama Mami is currently the Vice President of the Japanese space agency.
One particularly inspiring woman in the field of space exploration is Katherine Johnson, whose story was told in the movie "Hidden Figures." Johnson played a crucial role at NASA helping Alan Shepard to become the first American in space and assisting the crew of Apollo 11 in their historic mission to the Moon. She worked closely with John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, who famously refused to fly unless Johnson personally approved the calculations for his flight.
Women-founded and women-led spacetech companies
Based on data from BCG and First Round Capital, female founders outperform male founders in terms of revenue generation and return on investment. Specifically, for every dollar of investment raised, female-run startups generated 78 cents in revenue, whereas male-run startups generated a fraction of that. Additionally, the study found that female-founded companies performed 63% better than all-male founding teams. Moreover, women-led teams were found to generate a 35% higher return on investment than all-male teams.
The space industry has numerous examples of successful entrepreneurs, and Melanie Stricklan is one of them. She is the founder and CEO of Slingshot Aerospace, a company that specializes in creating space data, analytics, and simulation solutions to facilitate successful space missions for the operations community. To date, Slingshot Aerospace has secured a total funding of USD 110.5 million.
Gwynne Shotwell is another remarkable woman in space who serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. Recognizing her exceptional contributions, she was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2020. Gwynne is a true inspiration for women everywhere, demonstrating that with hard work and dedication, one can achieve incredible success in the field of space technology.
Cathie Wood is another great example of a renowned entrepreneur and business executive, who is the founder and CEO of ARK Invest fund. Her visionary leadership has led the company to establish an ETF exclusively dedicated to advancing space exploration and innovation.
Space, TikTok, and beer production on Mars
Kellie Gerardi is a prominent science communicator and aerospace, defense, and technology professional from the United States, who we consider to be among the most influential figures in the space industry. She performs research in bioastronautics and evaluates spacesuits in microgravity for the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). Gerardi is the author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science: A Beginner's Guide To Life in the Space Age and the Luna Muna children's picture book series. Through her work, she promotes space exploration and encourages women in STEM, which has attracted thousands of followers on social media platforms like TikTok (607K followers) and Instagram (136K followers).
In February 2015, Kellie Gerardi became a member of an international research team that participated in the 149th crew rotation at the Mars Desert Research Station. This station is a prototype laboratory used by different national space agencies to simulate extended periods of spaceflight. Gerardi's team achieved a significant milestone by successfully demonstrating the growth of sorghum seeds and hops rhizomes in a simulant of Martian regolith, proving the possibility of brewing beer on Mars.
Organizations supporting Women in Space
Space4Women is a project of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to promote women's empowerment in space. Space4Women is dedicated to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education among women and girls, while also raising awareness about the vast career opportunities available in the space sector. Check out their events program.
Women In Aerospace Europe (WIA-Europe) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting female talent and leadership at all levels of the European aerospace sector. While they acknowledge the progress made in recent decades to accelerate the growth of female talent in this industry, they also recognize that significant challenges, such as pay gaps, underrepresentation, and inequality, still need to be addressed.
#EmbraceEquity in Space
The theme for International Women's Day this year is #EmbraceEquity. Based on the inspiring examples mentioned, we strongly believe that the space industry will benefit from having more women participate and lead, driving innovation forward. Space Ambition is thrilled to connect with several start-ups founded or co-founded by women, including IENAI, which builds maneuver-as-a-service, Airmo, which launches satellite constellations to track greenhouse gas emissions, and DeltaV Robotics, which builds AI-powered digital engineering platforms for the space industry. We hope that the stories we mentioned will inspire a new generation of female entrepreneurs to enter the space industry, and we encourage everyone to support their efforts. If you are seeking advice or looking to contribute to the development of women in space, please don't hesitate to contact us at alexandra@spaceambition.org. As a token of our appreciation for the community, we have compiled a list of funds and organizations that support women in tech.
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Thanks for the article! I have a baby girl who loves space. I hope when she grows up she will have more opportunities to follow her passion:) could I contribute somehow?
My little one is fascinated with the stars so I got her those projector room lights of the galaxy. She's grown to love it even more as the years rolled on (she's 4 now). I really hope her gender is never a challenge if she chose to go down this path. Thanks for this.