![\"Angus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792746374_873_d5a071fc159539ad13208393627832b1baa469f341946cfd0567ba332a83005c.png\")
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Updated October 23, 2026 \u2014 4:36pm,first published 1:02pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The federal government has made a formal bid to the European Space Agency to send Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg to space, but has refused to say how much the offer is worth, amid doubts it has stumped up enough money to meet the mission\u2019s multimillion-dollar price tag.<\/p>\n In May, the ESA offered to fly Bennell-Pegg, a qualified astronaut and director of space technology at Australian Space Agency, on a future mission at a cost of more than $100 million.<\/p>\n The 2028 flight to the International Space Station would mark the first time an astronaut flew to space under the Australian flag.<\/p>\n Science Minister Tim Ayres\u2019 office would not confirm how much the government\u2019s counter-offer to the ESA was worth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has long held an ambition to see an Australian astronaut go to space wearing an Australian flag on their space suit,\u201d Ayres said on Friday morning.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThe government has been engaging extensively with the private sector, philanthropists, and other levels of government to raise funding to support a space flight \u2013 which is a significant cost. We are grateful to the philanthropists who have committed over $6 million in cash, plus in-kind support, and some indicative support from some state governments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are grateful for the invitation for Katherine Bennell-Pegg to participate in a future mission to the International Space Station and have written to the European Space Agency with an offer that manages the competing pressures on the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n The ESA is expected to make a decision on whether to accept the government\u2019s counter-offer later this year.<\/p>\n A fundraising campaign dubbed #flykatherine has garnered about $25 million from philanthropists and industry donations to support the mission.<\/p>\n Entrepreneurs Jim Whalley and Dick Smith, and companies BHP and Nova Systems, have all committed $1 million to the effort.<\/p>\n \u201cThe questions now are how much new funding the Commonwealth is committing, whether ESA has indicated the offer is workable, and what flexibility exists to reach an agreement,\u201d #flykatherine campaign spokesperson and deputy director of the University of Western Australia\u2019s International Space Centre, Larissa Wiese, said.<\/p>\n The federal government asked state governments for funding, but only South Australia has committed support.<\/p>\n Supporters have argued the mission would generate unprecedented momentum for Australia\u2019s space industry and boost careers in STEM.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThis rare opportunity to fly Australia\u2019s astronaut with the European Space Agency is an investment in Australian jobs, research and our next generation of scientists and engineers,\u201d chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia Darin Lovett said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor around $100 million, less than the price of a single coffee for every Australian adult, this is not a ticket to space. It is a down payment on Australia\u2019s future in one of the defining industries of this century.\u201d<\/p>\n Some within the space industry have been critical of the idea<\/a>, given the cost of the single spaceflight would well exceed the entire annual budget for the Australian Space Agency.<\/p>\n The agency, launched in 2018, was given an operating budget of $21.7 million over two years in the latest budget.<\/p>\n Taxpayers covered Bennell-Pegg\u2019s $466,000 astronaut training with the ESA in 2024.<\/p>\n A number of Australians have gone to space, including Dr Andy Thomas and Paul Scully-Power, who flew with NASA under the US flag. Bennell-Pegg would be the first to do so under the Australian flag.<\/p>\n The Examine newsletter explains and analyses science with a rigorous focus on the evidence. Sign up to get it each week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/46702513df938a49d65b8f3b2c20250ec8f755ed.jpeg\")
Australian of the Year astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n![\"Australia\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0db9ebcd6601c25b84cbf4d13c381816e7f0609f55225cc9bc0c958e5cb131fe.gif\")
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The government has made a counter-offer to the ESA on taking Katherine Bennell-Pegg to space in 2028.European Space Agency<\/p>\n![\"Katherine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5a2e4b2060e36104c0d51a4175bce21943d5001b.jpeg\")
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Angus Dalton<\/a> is the science reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated October 23, 2026 \u2014 4:36pm,first published 1:02pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":937941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-937940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/937941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}