Fauziyya Auwal Muhammad

Fauziyya Auwal Muhammad was born in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State and went to school in Rigachikun. Her interest in astronomy started in childhood and was largely self-taught, assembled online from whatever she could find, because the subject was not on offer around her.

She read physics at Kaduna State University and graduated with first-class honours. She is now a Graduate Assistant in the same department, teaching while she completes a master's specialising in astrophysics and space science education. In 2024 she presented a paper on external galaxies at an international astronomy and astrophysics conference and won an astronomy and astrophysics competition.

Astronaut candidacy

She is an astronaut candidate with Titans Space Industries, reported as the first from Nigeria and the first woman in the company's candidate group. Structured training, including advanced space science coursework, begins in 2026. She was also selected for the LunAres Research Station analogue mission in Poland, reported as Nigeria's first female analogue astronaut. Some outlets print the company name as Titan Space Industries; the correct name is Titans Space Industries.

Her interest in the candidacy is not the flight. It is what a Nigerian in that seat makes possible for the students behind her.

Why ASTHERA exists

She founded ASTHERA as a space-intelligence company: one that turns satellite and geospatial data into practical intelligence on flood risk, agriculture, climate and the environment, and that trains the young Africans who will do that work next. Alongside it, her stated goal is to establish an astronomy department at Kaduna State University, so the next student does not have to piece the subject together from the internet.

I want to come back and bring positive change to my society.