MANILA, Philippines — In April 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to go into space, kicking off years of human space exploration.
Since then, around 600 people have followed, more than half from the United States who distinctly put man on the moon during six different expeditions.
But a huge discrepancy remains: of that 600 only 12% are women and just three from Southeast Asia, in fact 150 countries have yet to see one of their own become an astronaut.
That is something the Space Exploration & Research Agency (SERA) aims to fix as it teams up with astronautics company Blue Origin for an upcoming mission on a New Shepard rocket.
Five of the rocket’s six seats have been allocated to partner countries with few or no astronauts — Nigeria, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Thailand — and the last one is up for grabs. SERA is encouraging interested individuals to join its Mission Control platform and begin campaigning to the public why they should be considered for space flight.
Philstar.com spoke with Kristine Jane Atienza, a public health nutritionist and dietitian who — as the first Filipino analog astronaut — is among the prime candidates to be the first person from the Philippines to head into space.
Atienza shared that about 33,000 people are vying for the last SERA program seat. Several hundred from the Philippines have signed but no more than ten are actively campaigning at the moment, including her.
Boosting her chances is Atienza being the first and only Filipino certified for sub-orbital spaceflight; other individuals will have to undergo training before the Blue Origin space flight, should they be picked.
While she would love to be the person selected, Atienza finds it more consequential that any person from the Philippines be chosen.
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“I would love to see a Filipino to have that seat for us to break the highest glass ceiling, literally highest, yung Kármán line,” Atienza said, referring to the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space a hundred kilometers away. “I’m just one ticket away from space.”
Blue Origin has overseen numerous crewed flights since 2021 with singer Katy Perry, actor William Shatner, athlete-host Michael Strahan, and company owner Jeff Bezos among those cracking past Earth’s orbit.
However, there are still some who believe such trips don’t count as becoming an astronaut as these flights don’t go into the depths of space. But for Atienza, it is still makes a huge difference if a Filipino can be counted among those people.
“Sobrang dami na nakarating beyond the Kármán line [at] makita ang Earth from above. But no Filipino has ever been to that place,” Atienza reiterated.
She acknowledged the term “first Filipino astronuat” may be contentious which is why for her the technically correct term would be “the first Filipino in space.”
“Just imagine that person, parang magiging siguro Pacquiao levels,” Atienza continued. “Lahat tayo, lahat hihinto, just to see that happening for Filipinos.”
The first phase of the SERA program will see candidate complete daily tasks, create content, and earn SpaceDust to boost their chances. Only those who obtain a candidate’s badge will move forward.
The second phase will have remaining candidates share their stories, build social campaigns, and rally support. The top three from each region will advance to the final round. There, crews will be formed to compete and earn the collective’s final vote.
The flight proper is slated for the second quarter of 2026, according to Atienza, and candidates as early as now have been advised to get the word out.
Philstar.com asked Atienza if she has approached the Philippine Space Agency, where she volunteers on various fronts, and other organizations to help in her campaign.
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Atienza noted the agency would be supportive of any Filipino who gets the final seat, but she personally doesn’t want to take advantage of her connections there nor does she want the agency to get into trouble.
“Space flight is very tricky, since very new pa lang yung space agency, they’re still threading on the safe side of things since they don’t have a huge budget, unlike other agencies,” she explained. “I think it’s okay din na very careful din sila sa partnerships since it’s the face of the agency yung nakaharap.”
Instead she encourages other organizations to share information about the campaign and support the Filipinos joining it.
From her perspective, Atienza believes other Filipinos are managing to campaign better as she struggles with social media being a “Millennial Tita” where even TikTok videos can be challenging.
Atienza instead, is using the opportunity to inform people about space as there is much for Filipinos to learn about it.
“I’m trying to make videos about the things that I do for space, or just yung mga lectures. I have lots of slides that I can make that into short-form videos,” Atienza shared. “Mas kampante ako na I can share space facts or space trivia to other Filipinos, more than the campaign itself.”
She stressed that space is very important for Filipinos, labelling knowledge about it as must-have rather than nice-to-have, given the Philippines is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
“We cannot just be users of space, we need to be contributors as well. We need to be innovators in the space industry,” said Atienza.
Beyond the SERA program, Atienza wants to advocate for a human space-type program in the Philippines for her hopes that Filipinos who dream of space can have the opportunity to go there.
“We’re 116 million Filipinos, aren’t we curious why no one has gone to space yet? This is a good chance for us to finally, hopefully, bring a Filipino flag to space,” Atienza ended.
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