The Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) congratulates Australia’s astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, on being named 2026 Australian of the Year in recognition both of her many outstanding achievements, and the increasing importance of space and STEM to Australia’s prosperity, resilience and security.  

“Katherine Bennell-Pegg’s extraordinary achievements culminating in her being named Australian of the Year are an outstanding reflection of Australia’s growing capability in space and deep tech, especially her landmark achievement of becoming the first Australian to qualify as an astronaut under the Australian flag.” Said SIAA CEO Dan Lloyd. 

Katherine’s work highlights the many ways in which space is already critical to modern economies and societies. GPS is essential to navigation and transport, satellite and “Direct to Device” communications are critical for regional and First Nations communities, and earth observation data is essential for addressing many of Australia’s biggest challenges from climate monitoring to bushfire and disaster prevention.  

Australia has more to gain from space than most. Space-based research and data provide the solutions to Australia’s biggest challenges: our vast landmass, an economy highly dependent upon resources and agriculture, and serious ambitions for climate and sustainability.  

“Katherine’s journey isn’t just about space – it shows just how much is possible when Australia invests in science, ambition, and the next generation. Thanks to Katherine’s extraordinary efforts, and the far-sighted support of the Australian Space Agency and Australian Government, Australia is now one of only a handful of countries in the world with an astronaut qualified to crew the International Space Station, opening clear opportunities for Australia to advance its position in space.”, Mr Lloyd added. 

Australia’s active and growing profile in the global space industry was reflected in Australia hosting of the landmark 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025) in Sydney in September/October 2025. With nearly 8,000 registered delegates, IAC 2025 was one of the largest and most successful annual IACs. IAC 2025 also brought 20 global astronauts to Australia where they engaged with a record-breaking 19,000+ ordinary Australians in the Public Days across the ICC Darling Harbour and Parramatta.  

The Australian government announced during IAC 2025 that the Australian Space Agency would negotiate a cooperation agreement with ESA. This opens exponential opportunities for Australia to bat above its weight across research, commercialisation of leading-edge Australian technologies, and host of compelling initiatives ranging from launch and return to human spaceflight.  

BACKGROUND: 

The Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) is the national peak body for the Australian space industry, representing 80+ members spanning academia, startups, scaleups, corporates and Primes across the full spectrum of space capability from launch and return to space situational awareness. SIAA and its member companies work closely with Australian governments, international partners, academia, and industry to advance Australia’s space industry and economy including hosting Australia’s premier annual space conference Southern Space.  See: https://www.spaceindustry.com.au  

European Space Agency (ESA): ESA is the world’s second largest space organisation with 23 of the largest European nations collaborating on major space programmes including delivering over 50 major space missions resulting in over 94,000 scientific publications. ESA’s Ministerial Council agreed in December 2025 to implement a generational uplift in ambition and funding to reflect the increasing importance of space to modern economies and societies and the necessity of increasing resilient capability in a challenging geopolitical environment. This has resulted in a substantially increased budget of €22.1bn over the 2026-2028 with contributions increasing annually by inflation plus 3.5% every year through to 2028.1 Canada has been a longstanding partner with ESA though a Cooperation Agreement since 1979, reporting a consistent 3:1 return on their ESA investments and announcing in late 2025 that Canada was increasing its ESA contributions by 400% to €407.7m. The Australian Government announced during IAC 2025 that the Australian Space Agency had been given a mandate to negotiate a cooperation agreement with Australia and ESA’s Director-General has announced increased collaboration with Australia, Japan and South Korea as key priorities for ESA in 2026. See: https://www.esa.int  

Human Spaceflight: Countries which have backed human spaceflight have seen a raft of major benefits, especially emerging space nations who saw human spaceflight as a critical signal of maturity, capability and ambition (such as the UAE, Hungary and Turkey). Those countries report many benefits from human spaceflight, most notably a generational uplift in STEM education, a significant increase in national pride and social cohesion, and a focal point for acceleration of research, commercialisation and industrial capability. The UK government reported that its most recent human spaceflight resulted in unprecedented public and educational engagement with space, with 33 million Brits engaging with the mission, and over 2 million students from more than 1 in 3 UK schools actively participating in associated research projects.”2 

International Astronautical Congress 2025: IAC 2025 was a watershed for Australia’s profile in the global space industry with nearly 8,000 registered delegates making it one of the most successful IACs in history.  

SIAA’s CEO, Dan Lloyd is available for further comment c/o operations@spaceindustry.com.au 

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