Laurène Delsupexhe, a chemical propulsion engineer at the European Space Agency (ESA), highlights significant advances as well as ongoing challenges regarding the role of women in space exploration.
She recalls that more than sixty years after thirteen pioneering women, known as the Mercury 13, demonstrated their ability to pass the same rigorous physical tests as the first American male astronauts, gender equality in this field remains an unfinished goal.
Delsupexhe emphasizes that despite institutional progress, such as astronaut recruitment moving toward parity, obstacles persist. She specifically mentions the initial exclusion of the Mercury 13 and the renewed ambitions of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims notably to send the first woman to the Moon.
For her, the next step is not limited to reaching the Moon but ensuring that women are fully represented in defining and carrying out future space missions, thereby shaping humanity’s future beyond Earth.