A Team of Young Women Wants to Send Kyrgyzstan's First Satellite to Space

Kyrgyzstan is one of 123 countries that doesn't have a national space agency. That could soon change, thanks to a group of young programmers and engineers taking the matter into their own hands.

As The Next Web reports, the Kyrgyz Space Program is made up of 12 women ranging in age from 17 to 25 years old. They met in 2017, when journalist and TED fellow Bektour Iskender started a free course in his home country of Kyrgyzstan teaching young women there how to build robots and satellites.

The team has since made it its mission to build a cube satellite (CubeSat)—a smaller type of satellite that costs about $150,000 to put together. If they are able to construct the spacecraft, launch it into orbit, and send it to the International Space Station as planned, the project will mark the first time Kyrgyzstan has sent a satellite into space.

The Kyrgyz Space Program now meets twice a week in the offices of Kloop, a media outlet that's known for its support of feminist causes in a country where women still have a long way to go to reach parity. Even as more women start to get involved in Kyrgyzstan's politics, domestic violence, child marriage, and bride kidnappings are still rampant.

In order to accomplish their goal of sending a Kyrgyz satellite to orbit, the program has launched a crowdfunding campaign. Reaching the $2500-a-month marker means they can construct the CubeSat with guidance from the team who launched Lithuania's first satellite. If they reach the $10,000-a-month threshold, they will be able to send the CubeSat to the International Space Station. You can join the 120 people who've already supported their Patreon page by pledging today.