The British team won the 2010 International Space Settlement Design Competition at Johnson Space Center in Texas, USA. The winning team was composed of 13 students from Wallington County Grammar School, Pate's Grammar School and the City of London Academy.
Welcome to the United Kingdom Space Design Competition! This competition is an exciting industry simulation experience open to all current secondary school students in the United Kingdom.
Students participating in the competition are required to design a significant infrastructure development in space. Teams will have to consider a range of issues including structural engineering, transportation, human factors, safety, communications, food production, and energy requirements.
The key aspect of the competition is to provide students with the opportunity to participate in a design simulation that exposes them to the challenges of working as a member of a team. The team will achieve an infrastructure development that is complex, challenging, and requires innovation and imagination to lead to broader student interest and further education and career choices in science, technology and mathematics.
"When people asked why I was going on the trip this Summer, I told them 'I'm going to build a space station in two days.' I thought I was joking. It seems I really wasn't." - Student, 2006
The experience of participating in a Space Settlement Design Competition encourages optimism for the future, technical competence, management skills, knowledge of environments and resources in space, appreciation for the relationship between technical products and human use, ability to work in teams, and techniques of preparing effective documentation. It requires that students integrate their knowledge of and utilize skills in space science, physics, math, chemistry, environmental science, biology, computer science, writing, speaking, art and common sense.
"It...has that which no other competition offers. You have the power to think out of the box which invites creativity that you never imagined you had." - Student, 2005.
The competition for students has no “upper limit” and students are encouraged to take their turbo-charged imaginations to the brink of their capabilities. There are wide ranging benefits for teachers to look at and anticipate the technological revolutions that will happen and provide excitement to classroom instruction. Sponsoring organizations have the opportunity to contribute to the broader education of the community.
"We gained new insight and discovered hidden talents....Many of these skills have become crucial factors in our college lives." - Alumni Students, 1997
Secondary school teams will prepare and submit proposals for their designs for the “Foundation Society” and will receive outline design requirements of the Foundation. Teams will then be selected to attend the UK finalist competition in London.
The winning team will then attend the international finals competition at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston. The winner of the United Kingdom Regional Space Settlement Competition is guaranteed a place in the 18th International Space Settlement Design Competition held in July 2011 at Johnson Space Center, USA.