Overview
- The foundation announced the Concordia prize on Wednesday in Oviedo after a jury led by Adrián Barbón reviewed more than thirty candidacies.
- The jury cited Koch’s “effort of personal overcoming” and said her Artemis II flight helped advance cooperation and humanistic values the prize rewards.
- In April Koch flew on NASA’s Artemis II, becoming the first woman to travel around the Moon as part of the United States’ first crewed lunar-near mission in more than 50 years; crewmates Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen reached the same distance.
- Koch is an electrical engineer with long operational experience, including a 328-day single-flight record aboard the ISS and the October 2019 all-women spacewalk with Jessica Meir.
- The award caps the foundation’s 46th prize cycle and is likely to raise public visibility for women in STEM and for international participation in the renewed Artemis lunar program.