Quick Facts
Biography
Katherine Bennell-Pegg (born 1984) is a space systems engineer serving as the Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency. She is a dual Australian and British citizen.
Early life and education
Bennell-Pegg was born in Sydney and grew up in the Northern Beaches area. She completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Aeronautical & Space Engineering and a Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in Physics at the University of Sydney.
She received a Erasmus Mundus full scholarship to study in Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and the Netherlands as part of the Joint European Master in Space Science and Technology programme. Under this program, she completed two master degree's in a Master of Science in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University (1st prize shared) and a Master of Science in Space Technology at Luleå University of Technology.
She also conducted the Space Studies Program at the International Space University, along with an internship at the European Space Agency as a Thermal Engineer and an internship at NASA Ames designing a low-cost spacecraft development platform.
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
Airbus
Bennell-Pegg's first job after her MScs was as a mission systems engineer at Airbus UK, working on a range of future missions and concept studies, including Martian in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), future remote sensing missions and space debris removal. She also worked as a thermal architect on the LISA Pathfinder team during the thermal test campaign.
She was transferred to Airbus Defence and Space Germany in 2016 where she worked as a project manager and systems engineer of advanced and robotic projects as well as being the Service Operations Lead for the Bartolomeo International Space Station Platform.
Australian Space Agency
Bennell-Pegg moved back to Australia to support the Australian industry and started her position as the Assistant Manager of Space Capability and Robotics & Automation at the Australian Space Agency based in Adelaide, South Australia. In 2022 she was promoted to the role of Director of Space Technology.
In 2022, Bennell-Pegg delivered The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering Innovation Lecture.
Australian astronaut candidate
Bennell-Pegg applied to join the European Astronaut Corps as a British dual citizen in early 2021. She was one of the 25 finalists for the 2022 ESA Astronaut Group, but was not selected as part of the 17-person crew. However, the Australian Space Agency has sponsored her training with the European Space Agency announcing in March 2023 that she would train alongside the mission crew at the European Astronaut Centre. Her training is expected to conclude in May 2024, though she is not part of a mission or foreseeable flight opportunity.
Awards
In March 2023, she was named as the overall winner in addition to the winner of the Leader of the Year category at the Woman of the Year Awards in Adelaide.