Competitiveness
Medium-high
Space Design Competitions Australia Inc. evolved from a desire to ensure Australian students were at the cutting edge of industry-relevant STEM learning. We provide students a unique opportunity to develop their academic and business skills while fostering and igniting career aspirations through unparalleled industry simulation events.
Since the first Australian team competed at the International Finals in 2003, we have challenged, encouraged and supported thousands of students as they progressed on their journey through school onto their professional careers.
The Australian Space Design Competition (ASDC) is designed for secondary school students with a passion for space, or are considering a future in STEM fields.
Teams of up to 12 grade 8* – 12 students respond to an engineering Request For Tender (RFT) and design a futuristic space settlement, planning structural engineering, operations and infrastructure, personnel factors, automation, and business development.
*Grade 8 students are only able to compete if their team contains students in grades 9 – 12.
THE TASK
Students form futuristic aeronautical engineering companies (with a maximum corporate size of twelve), and respond to a Request For Tender (RFT) to design a space settlement set in a fictional solar environment, in which humans are beginning to colonise the solar system. After forming their engineering organisation, teams are tasked with producing a tender response (maximum 50 pages), which details how their design meets the requirements established in the RFT.
The ASDC is separated into three distinct phases:
Qualifying: the first stage of the ASDC runs throughout the school year. Deadlines have been established to give students at least two full terms to complete their proposal.
Finals: Shortlisted teams from the Qualifying phase are invited to the ASDC Finals, held annually at the University of Queensland (Brisbane). See below for further information.
ISSDC: The champion team from the ASDC Finals represents Australia at the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC), held annually the following July (due to Northern Hemisphere school years) at the Kennedy Space Center (Florida, USA)
Medium-high
None
$240 per term
Multi Stage Competition