Young women in Kyrgyzstan participate in a project run by Kloop Media, a local media group, to build the country’s first satellite in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 4, 2018. Photo: Kloop Media/Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova (Reuters)

A group of young women are building a cubesat in Kyrgyzstan, aiming to build and launch the country’s first satellite before 2020. Women account for less than 10 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) graduates, according to the U.N. Development Program. 

“I feel very proud that it’s going to be the first satellite of the country. I’m doing this program because I want to empower other girls,” said American University of Central Asia student Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova. “Your gender doesn’t have to determine what you have to do in this life.”