Katya Echazarreta makes history as the first Mexican woman in space!

Katya was sponsored by the nonprofit Space for Humanity in an effort to increase diversity in space travel, as fewer than 80 women have been to space.

Senior WriterLos Angeles

JUNE 10, 2022 12:41 AM EDTJUN 10, 2022, 12:41 AM EDT

Katya Echazarreta has made history as the first Mexican woman in space! The 26-year-old electrical and hardware engineer made her dreams come true of traveling to space, joining the crew boarding the fifth passenger flight in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin over the weekend.

“Everyone around me — family, friends, teachers — I just kept hearing the same thing: That’s not for you,” Katya revealed, sharing her experience growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The engineer has also become one of the youngest women to fly to space, after being chosen from more than 7,000 application from more than 100 countries.

The diverse crew of the latest flight by Blue Origin included Victor Correa Hespanha, the second Brazilian to fly to space, aboard the New Shepard rocket, reaching an altitude of roughly 66 miles for a 10-minute flight before parachuting to landing.

Katya was sponsored by the nonprofit Space for Humanity in an effort to increase diversity in space travel, as fewer than 80 women have been to space, and fewer than three dozen have been Black, Indigenous or Latino, from a total of 600 people that have ventured into space.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently announced their first-ever equity plan “to further identify and remove the barriers that limit opportunity in underserved and underrepresented communities.”