British Interplanetary Society to host International Women’s Day celebration

The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), Britain’s leading think tank on space deployment, is hosting a panel event this International Women’s Day (8^th March), where high profile women in the space sector will discuss a range of topics, including past, present and future female faces in the space sector, their own careers and inspirations, with an opportunity for questions from the floor, and for participants to share their own stories.

This International Women’s Day celebration kicks off an entire summer of activity for ‘Women in Space’ for the BIS, in celebration of this being the theme for World Space Week in October. This event is taking place virtually on Monday, 8^th March, from 18:00-19:30, and is free to attend.

The panellists involved will include: Dr Alice Bunn, International Director at the UK Space Agency, Vice Chair of the Council of the European Space Agency and co-chair of the World Economic Forum Future Global Council on Space Technology; Hessa Rashid Al Matroushi, the Science Lead for the Emirates Mars Mission at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in the UAE; and Liz Seward, Senior Strategist at Space Systems for Airbus and Secretary of Women in Aerospace – Europe and their UK Lead.  The session will be chaired by BIS Chief Executive, Elizabeth Anderson.

Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the British Interplanetary Society has commented: “Our International Women’s Day event marks the start of a busy but important year in the British space sector, where the focus will be on the crucial but often overlooked contribution of women in space.

“We have sourced expert panellists and collaborations from leading experts from all over the world for this event, and we are extremely excited to start inspiring future generation of men, women, students and adults to take interest in and contribute towards our flourishing and always exciting space economy. This celebration, which will soon be followed up by a packed summer of events, will help us to reignite momentum and interest towards this sector after disruption caused by Covid-19.”

There will also be an anouncement from the British Interplanetary Society about its forthcoming programme of activity for the remainder of 2021, which includes: A ‘Beyond the Moon’ symposium in April – celebrating the 60^th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight; A conference titled ‘Reinventing Space’, hosted in Westminster at the end of June – Focussing on the economic, environmental and sustainability impacts of Covid-19 on the space sector; World Space Week in October! – Celebrating ‘Women in Space’, and later in the month the 50^th anniversary of the Prospero satellite