International Space Station Crew
Station Visitors, NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country
26 countries have flown their own astronaut to the International Space Station.
Source: NASA — Station Visitors. NASA counts visitors representing countries, including private participants; this is not a count of government-funded national missions.
Astronaut Selection and Training
Katherine Bennell-Pegg applied during ESA's selection process, which attracted more than 22,000 applicants. She completed ESA basic astronaut training through an Australian cooperation agreement with ESA.
Source: Australian Government — Katherine Bennell-Pegg named 2026 Australian of the Year; ABC — Australian Katherine Bennell-Pegg graduates from astronaut programme (23 April 2024); ESA — Astronaut graduation (12 April 2024).
Astronaut Corps References
NASA: 35 active astronauts, as of August 2026.
Source: NASA — Astronaut Fact Book. Management astronauts, candidates and former personnel are separate categories.
Roscosmos: 21 active cosmonauts, as of October 2026.
Source: Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps. Active membership does not establish an individual's current mission readiness.
European Astronaut Corps: the supplied page gives conflicting active totals and dates.
Source: European Astronaut Corps. Career, project and reserve astronauts are distinct categories; no single confirmed current total is used here.
Chinese astronauts: the supplied page lists historical flown astronauts and selection groups, not a verified current active-corps total.
Source: List of Chinese astronauts. China's spaceflight programme is not an ISS programme.
These pages cannot be combined into a reliable worldwide total of ISS-qualified astronauts: the categories and dates differ, and corps membership is not a certification for a particular mission. The former “around a hundred” claim has therefore been removed pending a comparable, confirmed roster.
Size of the Space Economy
The World Economic Forum: Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Space_2024.pdf
The space economy is forecast to reach USD$1.8 trillion by 2035, growing at an average of 9% per annum. This is well above the growth rate of global gross domestic product (GDP).
Source: World Economic Forum and McKinsey — Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth (2024). Forecast, not a guaranteed outcome.
“Space’s impact will increasingly go beyond space itself: The share of the total space economy captured by incumbent space hardware and service providers will gradually decrease to the benefit of non-traditional players such as ride-hailing apps, which would never have reached the global scale they have without satellite-based technology connecting drivers and riders and providing navigation services.
“Space’s return on investment will be more than financial: Beyond revenue generation, space will play an increasingly crucial role in mitigating world challenges, ranging from disaster warning and climate monitoring to improved humanitarian response and more widespread prosperity. Collaboration between public and private players will be key to ensure that space capabilities reach this potential.”
Research on ESA Programmes and Economic Impact
The studies below describe UK and European programmes. Their findings are not forecasts of Australian returns, and the Australian mission offer does not operate under ESA’s juste retour principle.
Impact Assessment of Principia Campaign
Measuring the effectiveness of the Principia campaign and its impact on the nation.
Evaluating the benefits of the UK’s investments in the European Space Agency
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3101-1.html
“Ultimately, very few of the benefits described here would be achievable outside of ESA, which gives the UK access to collaboration opportunities with leading European companies and technologies and a pooled resource from which to draw."
“Overall, every £1 public investment in ESA programmes leads to £7.49 directly benefiting the UK economy. The local and wider UK economies benefit significantly from ESA membership, with lasting increases in growth, employment, productivity and private investment for UK firms involved in delivering ESA contracts over the last decade. Thanks partly to efforts from teams within UKSA and efforts from organisations bidding for ESA contracts, the UK has achieved near parity in the UK’s geo-return figure, a measure of how many contracts UK firms win relative to overall spending.”
Source: RAND — Evaluating the benefits of the UK’s investments in ESA. The £7.49 estimate concerns UK investment, not predicted Australian mission returns.
The socio-economic impact of space activities
https://space-economy.esa.int/article/35/the-socio-economic-impact-of-space-activities
“Every euro invested in ESA programmes has a significant impact on the European economy, with up to 4 euros created in the broader economy. Investing in ESA programmes also generates significant governmental revenues: up to 90% of the funding of ESA programmes are returned to governments as income tax, taxes on products (including value added tax) and social security contributions.
“The economic impact of space fares very well when compared to other key industrial sectors, which demonstrates the strong performance of the space industry in creating additional value for the European economy. A key reason for this high impact comes from the fact that the European space industry covers the full value chain. In addition, the European public funding for space is mostly spent in the domestic industry.”
Source: ESA — The socio-economic impact of space activities. The “up to 4 euros” and “up to 90%” figures concern European programmes, not guaranteed Australian returns.
STEM Statistics in Australia
Growth in STEM jobs over the 20 years to February 2020: 85%
Source: National Skills Commission — 2021 State of Australia's Skills. Historical employment growth, not a forecast. Alternative copy of the report.
A $57 billion GDP gain over 20 years from shifting 1% of the workforce into STEM roles
Source: PwC — A Smart Move (April 2015), page 19. The report models $57.4 billion in present-value additional GDP over 20 years, rounded here to $57 billion. Not an annual benefit, guaranteed outcome or estimate of this mission's returns.
Year 12 participation in ATAR Mathematics
The proportion of students taking higher mathematics fell below 10% in 2020 for the first time since the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) began recording national participation rates and reached a new low of 8.4% in 2023. Intermediate mathematics participation also fell to a historic low of 16.8% in 2023.
Source: AMSI — Year 12 Mathematics Participation Report Card.
Combined higher and intermediate mathematics participation fell from 30.6% in 2019 to 25.2% in 2023. These totals add the two participation rates for each year.
Source: AMSI — Year 12 Mathematics Participation Report Card, July 2025 report, page 4. Each student is counted at their highest mathematics level. The 2023 figure is unadjusted for Victoria's Vocational Major cohort expansion.
Year 12 participation in ATAR Physics
https://amsi.org.au/?publications=year-12-physics-participation-report-card
The proportion of students studying physics at Year 12 level has dropped to 12.1%, the lowest level ever recorded.
Source: AMSI — Year 12 Physics Participation Report Card. The 12.1% figure is for 2023.
Australia's Year 4 mathematics gender gap
https://timss2023.org/results/grade-4-math-achievement-gender/
Australian Year 4 girls scored below boys in mathematics, with the largest mathematics gender gap among the 58 countries tested in TIMSS 2023.
Source: TIMSS 2023 — Grade 4 Mathematics Achievement: Gender. This comparison concerns mathematics scores, not science scores or students' attitudes.
NAPLAN numeracy proficiency in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
NAPLAN reports four proficiency levels: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support. From 2023, these replaced the previous minimum-standard reporting; the two series are not directly comparable.
https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/naplan-national-results
Source: ACARA — NAPLAN National Results. The original “almost one-third” numeracy figure requires a specified year and calculation; it should not be described as failing the former minimum standard.
Economic Complexity
Australia ranked 105th of 145 countries in the Economic Complexity Index in 2023.
Source: ABS — Economic resilience, released September 2025. The index measures export diversity and ubiquity, not overall economic resilience.
Campaign Support
The campaign's public supporters page lists named supporters from industry, academia, government, STEM and philanthropy, alongside individuals. The campaign reports 80 letters representing tens of thousands of Australians.
Source: ESA EPIC Offer campaign — Supporters. The letter count of 80 is confirmed by the Foundation; the aggregate number of Australians represented is campaign-reported.
Public speeches by Katherine Bennell-Pegg
Australian Astronaut Address - Katherine Bennell-Pegg The Andy Thomas Space Foundation
International Women’s Day 2026
https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/international-womens-day-breakfast (scroll to the bottom of the page) - Speech starts around the 27:00 mark.
2026 Australian of the Year: Acceptance Video and Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=7JSk1iBr9emokF9D&v=QLv7kiS_cIo&feature=youtu.be
Air and Space Power Conference 2024: Integrating Civilian and Military Space Capabilities by Ms Katherine Bennell-Pegg
Building a Bigger Better State. Growing jobs, vibrancy, prosperity and population for our state are the aims of The Advertiser’s Future SA campaign. It champions growth and innovation – to build a bigger, better future for all South Australians.
Andy Thomas Space Forum: Keynote — Health In Orbit: The Microgravity Opportunity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB1ybjqr1Vw
SXSW Sydney: Space - How moments create a movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=11GNLVU6AZIJz2OH&v=CGUmUjr40LE&feature=youtu.be
Regional Tour and Personal Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCs1U5Owgy4
Spotify Playlist with Speeches by Katherine Bennell-Pegg