International Space Summit: Opening Speech

Grand Palais, Paris, September 9, 2026

Space Women Alliance Founder & President, Christelle Astorg-Lepine

I am deeply honoured to address you at the opening of this first International Space Summit — an initiative launched by President Macron and co-chaired by France and Germany, in my capacity of President of the Space Women Alliance, an official partner of the summit.

Today, Paris brings together those shaping the future of space, through science, innovation, sovereignty, and security. Yet, to succeed in all these areas, we must accept one simple idea.

We cannot build a safer, more sustainable, more ambitious and more useful space sector by using only part of the talent available to us.

Inclusion and diversity are conditions for success.

Thirty years ago, when I graduated from engineering school, we were already calling for more women in science, technology and space. Thirty years later, women remain too few in technical positions and senior leadership.

There have been declarations, charters and institutional commitments. But good intentions are not enough.

If women are still missing where the decisions are made, then we must change our method and we must change our scale of action.

This is why, two years ago, we created the Space Women Alliance “SWAN”. Our goal is simple: to create impact through concrete actions, and to measure concrete results.

SWAN focuses on two levers: inspiring women to dream of space, and making them feel expected there.

Inspiring women to dream of space

Space needs talent across all functions, and for a woman to think, “This could be me,” she must see women at every level and think : “I belong there."

For too long, women were made invisible in the history of science. The Matilda effect reminds us that remarkable women were often denied recognition for their work. Making women in space visible is therefore not merely communication. It is about preparing for the future.

At SWAN, we have created an international database of more than 300 women working in space, ready to speak at conferences, share their expertise and mentor others. We make this network available to partner events with a clear objective: at least 30 % women on stage.

Therefore, SWAN connects more than 300 women in space through a global database available to our partners. In under two years, we have supported 12 events across 44 topics, with one goal: at least 30 percent women on stage.

The conclusion is simple: Women experts exist. Too often, people simply do not look for them.

This is not the responsibility of a few people; it is a shared responsibility.

Each of us can act: by trying to limit all-male panels and put forward women colleagues and ask every time, “Who have we invited?” When we have power, we also have responsibility.

This work also includes our partnerships with MyJobGlasses and, more recently, ESCP business school, to help make its future technical and business Bachelor programme more inclusive.

Make Women Feel Expected

Expecting women does not mean merely allowing them into a meeting room, a classroom or a team. Making women feel expected means saying: “We need your skills, we need your perspective, we need your ambition, and we want your contribution.” It means enabling brilliant careers without sexist remarks or additional pressure

In the United Arab Emirates, where I work as Space Adviser to the French Embassy and CNES representative for the Gulf region, when I ask young Emirati women engineers why so many women choose technical fields — close to 45 percent of engineers are women — their answer is simple:

“Our country expects us. It needs us.”

This is the message we must be able to share everywhere.

With our 20 corporate partners across the space value chain, we work together to increase women’s visibility, to develop mentoring and help women access technical and leadership positions.

SWANRISE

The purpose of SWANRise, our mentorship programme is to connect talented women with senior women and men who can accelerate their path towards leadership.

Leadership never happens by accident. It is built.

SWANRise connects talented women with senior women and men who can accelerate their path towards leadership. In two years, we have created more than 40 mentorships; and 90 percent of participants would recommend the program, 95 percent of mentees report increased confidence.

But the most important result is still ahead of us: how many of these women will lead our industry tomorrow?

If you’ll allow me, I would also like to use this platform to support another great initiative : la Fondation de l’Espace.

Created in 2025, Its goal is to bring space and society closer together over the long term. Its ambition is clear: they want to make space accessible to everyone, especially to people who are currently the farthest from it.

It already runs very practical projects. Étoiles Mathématiques offers all-girl summer camps for high school students from French overseas territories. Déclic Spatial offers work placements for 15–16- year-old students across the space sector; and remarkably in its first edition in June, 40% of the participants were girls !

These projects matter : they create access, they build confidence and they help young people who never have imagined a future in space say: “I can be part of this !”

This foundation is still young. It can grow with your support. I am encouraging each and every one of you to help it grow.

The next generation of space leaders will not simply emerge. We must invest in them today.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, the success of this Summit will also be measured by the ability to make space a sector where every talent can find its place and where decisions better reflect the diversity of the world they are responsible for serving.

To young women wondering whether they should join the space sector, I would simply say: do not hesitate. Space needs you!

This is exactly the very path that Hélène Huby, co-special envoy of President Macron for this

summit and founder of The Exploration Company, has chosen. She is so inspiring!

To everyone here, I say : join the Space Women Alliance — women and men alike.

Let us work together so that the place of women in space becomes an obvious fact.