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Space XX: Gender, Power and the New Space Race by Elise Stephenson

 

In April 2026, the first woman and first person of colour flew around the Moon on the Artemis II mission. By June 2026, women were scrapped from Artemis III – returning them to a history of under-representation and inequality. Drawing on a world-first study of gender and diversity in space — with insights from almost 1000 astronauts, engineers, ethicists and space agents — Space XX is the definitive account of who gets to shape humanity’s next frontier, and who is being left behind.

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“Elise Stephenson has done something remarkable: she’s taken one of humanity’s most romanticised frontiers and exposed it for what it really is – another arena where women and equity are an afterthought. Space XX is urgent, rigorous and impossible to ignore.“

Carol Schwartz AO

Space is the site of billions of dollars in investment from governments, institutions and private companies — and that is only set to accelerate. Yet despite its enormous significance to global economics and society, few have examined the gendered dynamics of the space sector.

As the world is upended by the “broligarchy” of space entrepreneurs and anti-DEI warriors, Space XX examines what it is really like to work in space — particularly for those who have historically been shut out. Drawing on interviews, surveys and focus groups with almost 1000 pioneering women, men, trans and non-binary people — from astronauts to robotics engineers, ethicists to Space Agents — this book offers an entirely new picture of (in)equality in STEM and beyond.

Space exploration is often called the “final frontier,” an embodiment of a colonial, patriarchal “wild west.” Other endeavours into land and air — mining, polar exploration — have long grappled with equity and inclusion, but the stakes in space may be far higher: it will shape not just what humanity does next, but who benefits, and who is left behind. Fascinating, timely and urgent, Space XX shows us how we could do better — and why it matters.

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Available from:

Sharing data from…

individuals - from astronauts to ethicists

space agencies and entities

countries

Space XX asks...

 

  • Who gets to shape humanity’s future in space?
  • Are old inequalities being reproduced in new frontiers?
  • How do gender, power and capital influence space governance?
  • What does inclusive space exploration look like?
  • Why does equality in space matter for life on Earth?

 

 

For readers interested in...

  • Space exploration and governance 80% 80%
  • Gender equality and leadership 90% 90%
  • Technology and society 70% 70%
  • National security and geopolitics 60% 60%
  • The future of humanity 60% 60%
The future of space is not only about where humanity goes next. It is about who gets to decide.

Testimonials

“Elise Stephenson has brought to light a key and often overlooked insight to our rapid reliance on outer space. Who is setting the norms and rules that will guide us? How will we keep it sustainable so that our children can continue to benefit from its use? We have an opportunity with inclusive leadership to learn from the state of the world today to create a more secure, sustainable and peaceful future both in space and on Earth.”

Cynda Collins Arsenault, Founder and President of Secure World Foundation

Testimonials

“Space XX is a wake-up call. It makes clear that if we are not deliberate, space will become the most extreme extension of the inequalities we already see on Earth. This book goes beyond highlighting the problem – it challenges leaders, policymakers and the space community to take responsibility for shaping a more equitable future. The question is no longer whether we can go to space, but whether we are willing to build a future there that serves all of humanity.”

Dr Mindy Howard, CEO Cosmic Girls Foundation

Testimonials

“A critically important book for current times. Elise Stephenson makes the argument clearly that increasing equality and representation in space is good not only for humanity’s future but also to ensure all humans flourish here on earth today.”

Professor Tracy Smart AO, former Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force and Professor of Military and Aerospace Medicine, Australian National University

Testimonials

“Is space a place where men and women can do things differently? Or will we simply recreate the same old inequality between men and women that exists on Earth? Elise Stephenson notes that anything built without women will be inhospitable to them, and so it is important to include women in space organisations from the very beginning. Have we? Stephenson’s original research is the first to address this important question.”

Professor Valerie M. Hudson, Director of the Program on Women, Peace, and Security, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University 

Testimonials

“Gender: the final frontier. In space no one can hear you scream … at misogyny. The space sector has always been an evocative place for human imagination and striving. But Elise Stephenson shows how we might simply replicate negative gender practices from Earth that would hold us back from the potential the space sector has for progress. This book is a tour de force, explaining what gender equality in space could look like and why all earthlings would benefit.”
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor of Law, Griffith University

Testimonials

 

“Space XX is a timely, rigorously researched examination of power, inequality and governance in the contemporary space sector. Blending original global data with sharp political analysis, Elise Stephenson reveals how earthly hierarchies are reproduced beyond Earth – and why inclusive approaches to space matter for human flourishing now and in the future.”

Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama

Testimonials

“This book interrogates incisively how power, capital and gender shape emerging domains, reminding us that new frontiers are rarely free from old hierarchies. Bringing a much‑needed gender lens to a field where gendered knowledge remains strikingly absent, Elise Stephenson exposes the risks of reproducing long‑standing patterns of exclusion when women are sidelined from leadership and decision‑making in space. By refusing to treat space as exceptional, the book situates itself within familiar dynamics of inequality, raising questions that resonate far beyond the sector itself.”

Professor Ramona Vijeyarasa, Chair in Gender and the Law, University of Technology Sydney.

Get in contact for media and speaking enquiries

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E: elise.stephenson@anu.edu.au