ISS mission: 'It's really exciting to see this renewal of French women in space'

More than six decades after thirteen pioneering women demonstrated they could meet the same demanding physical tests as America's first male astronauts, gender equality in space exploration remains an unfinished journey, explains Laurène Delsupexhe, Chemical Propulsion Engineer at the European Space Agency. From the institutional exclusion of the Mercury 13 to the renewed ambitions of NASA's Artemis programme, Delsupexhe traces the remarkable progress of women in space while exposing the persistent barriers that have outlasted generations of scientific and technological breakthroughs. With astronaut recruitment approaching gender parity, she argues that the next frontier is not simply reaching the Moon, but ensuring that women are fully represented in shaping humanity's future beyond Earth.