They are women who are doing extraordinary things largely unnoticed, but all of them looking skywards.
One hundred and sixty of the country's brightest minds working in the space industry have set up Women in Space Aotearoa New Zealand.
Auckland University engineering lecturer Dr Priyanka Dhopade is one of them.
She tried out to be an astronaut in 2016 for the Canadian space programme and got down to the last 72 applicants out of more than 3000 who applied.
"The most interesting thing for me was your ability to collaborate and lead in very stressful situations 'cause they'd created these situations where we were far away from home and we had no contact with our families," she said.
"[They were] trying to replicate the space environment and we weren't given enough sleep on any given day. We weren't told what was happening on any given day.
"You couldn't hide your real self."
Dhopade plans to try out for the programme again in the future. She said she now felt more ready.
"I know so much more about myself and I've done so many more things since then."
She'd been inspired by Canada's first female astronaut Roberta Bondar who visited her primary school.
Now she wants to inspire and support other women.
"We want anyone who feels like a minority, any gender who feels like a minority to have this space, this network to come and have some solidarity, some support, mentorship, networking opportunities, for jobs, internships – anything, really, that can help them navigate their way into the space sector because it needs them."
Learn more about Women in Space here.
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