As a young girl, Katya Echazarreta dreamed of going to space, and in 2022, her dream became a reality when she became the first Mexican-born woman to travel to space.
Now she hopes to inspire others like her and grow Mexico’s aerospace industry.
Echazarreta was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved to the US when she was seven years old.
Graduating from UCLA as an electrical engineer, she has worked on several NASA space projects, including Perseverance, the first rover sent to Mars to find life.
Later on, the 27-year-old engineer was chosen among 7,000 candidates by the space organization, Space For Humanity, to be part of Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin program, a project aimed to make space flight more accessible.
In June 2022, she travelled to space as part of a six person crew and made history as the first Mexican-born and youngest American woman to travel to space.
This is the face of a woman who kept a promise she made at 7 years old.
— Dr. Kat Echazarreta (@katvoltage) June 5, 2022
Esta es una mujer que cumplió una promesa que hizo a los 7 años. pic.twitter.com/J3H488QrLF
After returning from the space mission, Echazarreta announced her mission to grow Mexico’s aerospace industry instead of returning to space.
My new goal is to make sure Mexico stays in the Space Exploration history books 🇲🇽
— Dr. Kat Echazarreta (@katvoltage) June 8, 2022
Mi nuevo objetivo es asegurarme de que México permanezca en los libros de historia de la exploración espacial 🇲🇽@SpaceHumanity pic.twitter.com/ztzEdImbA4
“I could have moved up the ranks, grown as an engineer, eventually applied to an American astronaut program, it would have been much easier that way, of course, but for me it wasn’t enough,” Echazarreta told Spanish news outlet El Pais.
Echazarreta says she understands Mexico lacks the same opportunities as other countries and hopes to create them for future engineers.
“To me, it was sad to talk to engineers that studied the same degree as me, and they are fixing mobile phones, washing machines, or they dropped engineer, and now they are paramedics or driving an Uber. I understand this reality,” she told Reuters.
In December, she addressed the Mexican Congress to work on a bill that will “open the doors to Mexico’s new space era”.
Tuve el honor de hablar en el Congreso y el Senado de México.
— Dr. Kat Echazarreta (@katvoltage) December 16, 2022
Aproveché mi tiempo para pedir su apoyo en una reforma constitucional (a los Artículos 28 y 73) que abrirá las puertas de México a una nueva era espacial. pic.twitter.com/iR0rxL2RnW
The bill hopes to regulate the aerospace industry in Mexico and even allow private companies to launch rockets in the country.
“I would love to see a mission to space composed of Mexicans, selected and trained in Mexico.”
