Balashova was born in Kolomna and was educated at the Moscow Architectural Institute. Balashova began her career in 1955 at the GiproAviaProm design institute in Kuibyshev. Her work at this time involved removing decorative elements, considered "decadent", from residential buildings. In 1957, she became senior architect at OKB-1, which was responsible for design during the early days of the Soviet space program. She began by designing residences for employees but later contributed to the interior design of the "Soyuz" spacecraft and the "Salyut" and "Mir" space stations. Balashova also worked as a consultant for the Buran programme. She retired in 1991 upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, making her work no longer a State secret and available to the public.