Student Space Competitions

Pre-University

• The pre-university satellite design experience in the UK is covered by ESERO-UK CanSats, on behalf of the European Space Agency. Across Europe, more than 24 countries have national competitions. In the UK, it runs from October to April the following year. Winning teams in each National Competition are invited to ESTEC in the Netherlands to experience a day in the life of an engineer in the space industry.

University

• Satellite competitions at a university student level are designed to guide participants though the process of designing a satellite from a relevant brief.
• This is provided  through UKSEDS’ Satellite Design Competition. This competition runs from October to July, with a theme that changes each year.
• Beyond this, opportunities like REXUS/BEXUS, though not strictly a competition, is an invaluable learning experience  realised by a bilateral Agency Agreement between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). In this, payloads are developed to be launched on a sounding rocket (REXUS), or weather balloon (BEXUS). Cycles run from June to October the following year (BEXUS) or March the year after that (REXUS).

Below are some sample documents from some of these competitions. Please be aware that these briefs change year-on-year but may be useful for developing competencies.

Hackathons

• NASA Space Apps Challenge: a hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, technologists, and innovators around the world to come together and use open data from NASA and its Space Agency Partners to create solutions to challenges we face on Earth and in space. This challenge starts in July and runs through to the hackathon weekend in October, with Global Winners announced in January.
• ESA Space Omics Hackathon – SciSpacE: a Hackathon to tackle space exploration challenges using NASA GeneLab omics datasets. This hackathon registration was open from June 10 to July 17 2024, with the hackathon held from September 23 to 27, 2024 online. This hackathon may run in 2025.
• ESA Datalabs Ariel Hackathon 2025 – Home: the First ESA Datalabs Hackathon! Hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near sunny Madrid, this hackathon invites you to dive into the world of space exploration with cutting-edge machine learning techniques. Over two days, participants will form teams to develop the best machine learning model using ESA’s powerful data science platform, ESA Datalabs. This hackathon will focus on the exciting Ariel mission, ESA’s upcoming exoplanet observatory set to launch in 2029. Ariel will study the atmospheres of over 1,000 exoplanets, answering fundamental questions about the formation and evolution of planetary systems. The challenge will revolve around building innovative models to support Ariel’s groundbreaking research.

Pre-University

• UK Space Design Competition covers a wide range of space-themed design, with regional heats, a UK-wide competition and the opportunity to compete on the international stage at the International Space Settlement Design Competition.

University

• A propulsion testing competition in the UK is UK Race to Space.
• Another offering from UKSEDS is the In-Orbit Servicing and Manufacturing, developing a business case and pitching to key industry players in this growing field. The competition starts in October, with three challenges throughout the academic year, culminating in a competition day in the style of a “Dragons Den”-eque pitch in July the following year.

Below are some sample documents from some of these competitions. Please be aware that these briefs change year-on-year but may be useful for developing competencies.