Sara Sabry, the First Egyptian Astronaut and the First Woman From the African Continent to go to Space.  

Sabry was selected by Space for Humanity for her leadership experience and potential for global impact among thousands of qualified applicants around the world. Sabry flew to space on Blue Origin’s 6th human spaceflight on August 4th, 2022, on their New Shepard rocket (NS-22). The mission’s goal was to experience the Overview Effect and bring this new perspective to benefit life on Earth.  

Sabry is the founder and executive director of Deep Space Initiative (DSI). This non-profit company aims to increase accessibility and opportunity in space while enabling deep space exploration for all Humankind. DSI’s mission is to help erase the borders on the map by providing opportunities in research and education that are open to all audiences, no matter their nationalities or resources.  

Sabry is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Aerospace Sciences at The University of North Dakota and is working at their NASA-funded Human Spaceflight lab. Her research focuses on engineering the next generation of planetary spacesuits, and she has aspirations of obtaining her private pilot license along the way. Sara became Egypt’s first female Analog Astronaut in 2021 after completing a 2-week moon mission simulation at Lunares in Poland as the crew medical officer, and in 2022 Sara successfully completed the IIAS astronaut training program with Project PoSSUM – a suborbital research qualification program – making her the first female Egyptian trained to do research in space. She received her Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s degree in 2016 from the American University in Cairo, with a concentration in Mechatronics and minors in Biology, Chemistry, and PreMed. She received her Master’s in Biomedical Engineering in 2020 from Politecnico Di Milano in Italy. Sara’s wide range of experiences spans from Mechatronics and Robotic Surgery to Stem Cell Development and Bioastronautics. After her studies, Sara worked at a Tech Startup in Berlin as the deputy CTO and solutions engineer focusing on Augmented Reality mobile applications. 

Sara is passionate about increasing the representation of Egyptians, especially women, in the space field and hopes to inspire younger generations to dream bigger. As part of her efforts, she co-founded the Space Ambassador Program with the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) and is the first Astronaut Health & Performance Space Ambassador. Sabry continues working with EgSA on several exciting projects, including building Africa’s first analog research station. Sabry was the team lead for the Transportation on the Moon group within the Lunar Commerce & Economics of the Moon Village Association (MVA), a PoliSpace external advisor, an independent researcher with Biofrequency Analytics, and a Human Factors teaching associate at Mars University.  

Before her work in the space industry, Sara was a Yoga instructor and Crossfit coach during her undergraduate studies and spent some time practicing Mixed Martial Arts. In 2016 she traveled around Africa volunteering in different schools and organizations, including a Women Empowerment Center in Uganda and a primary school in South Africa. As a firm believer in protecting our oceans, Sabry is an Advanced Open Water Certified diver and spent six weeks in Madagascar as a marine conservationist.