Ngalang Koort Conversations: Katherine Bennell-Pegg

Join the Ngalang Koort Conversations — an international lecture series where acclaimed international speakers will explore topics of global importance. 

For the 2024 Ngalang Koort Conversation, we will be joined by Katherine Bennell-Pegg.

When asked to write down three different career options in high school, Katherine Bennell-Pegg only wrote down one - astronaut – and refused to add any others.

In 2023, as an employee of the Australian Space Agency, Katherine was invited by the European Space Agency to undertake Basic Training in Germany, becoming the first international astronaut candidate to do so. In April of this year, she made history by becoming the first qualified astronaut under the Australian flag!  

Now back at the Australian Space Agency here in Australia, she shares the knowledge she gained from her training with Australia’s growing space and tech sectors.  

As part of the Ngalang Koort (“Our heart”) Conversation series, hear her in conversation with Sinead Mangan to explore why space matters to Australia and why Australia needs to play an active role in space exploration. A Q&A session will follow the conversation.

The Ngalang Koort Conversations international lecture series has been created by the Foundation for the WA Museum and is supported by Founding Partner, Wesfarmers.

Katherine Bennell-Pegg visits WA for the Forrest Research Foundation and the International Space Centre at The University of Western Australia.

About Katherine Bennell-Pegg

Katherine Bennell-Pegg is an Australian Astronaut and Space Systems Engineer. She is the first person to qualify as an astronaut under the Australian flag.

Katherine works for the Australian Space Agency, where she has contributed to growing Australia's space capability as technical lead on scoping the nation's first Moon rover mission, developing plans to capitalise on Australia's space strengths, and managing the Access to Space Team. She has more than a decade of experience developing space programs and strategies, technologies, and missions across Europe, the UK, the US and Australia. These include the Orion vehicle that is taking humans back to the Moon, space station facilities, earth observation missions and robotic satellite capture technologies. 

In 2023, Katherine took the giant leap to achieving her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, when she began training with the European Space Agency in Germany. She graduated in April 2024, and is qualified for missions to the International Space Station. 

Katherine holds four degrees in science (physics major), space and aeronautical engineering. She is passionate about using human spaceflight and space to unlock opportunities for researchers and industry, as well as to inspire the next generation.

About Sinead Mangan 

Sinead has been telling stories from Australia for the past 25 years. A resources business journalist by trade, she enjoys the challenges of reporting from some of the most remote parts of Australia. 

She’s presented the ABC’s national programs Dust and Dollars, Resources Beat and most recently Australia Wide. She was an Australian producer of the award-winning Mile in My Shoes podcast by London’s Empathy Museum and is a regular correspondent on BBC’s Business Matters. She is the host, researcher and producer of the Pink Diamond Heist podcast.

Presented by the Foundation for the WA Museum

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Ngalang Koort Conversations is supported by