UK Space Design Competition – Croydon High through to the nationals

The UK Space Design Competition is a multidisciplinary space-themed competition designed to be a simulation of life in industry! The UKSDC gives pupils a taste of the vast potential offered by future study of STEAM subjects.

Pupils from multiple schools are combined to form an engineering company and take on the task of designing a crewed space settlement within our solar system. Teams are given a list of requirements for a space settlement and are tasked with coming up with a detailed design which they present to a panel of judges from industry, academia, and business.

Croydon High School were partnered with few other schools to form the company, Kepler Automation, and won the highly competitive Regional Heat! The judges were particularly impressed and raised 3 strong points, one of which stated, “thorough consideration of medical uses”. This contribution was made by our very own student, Isla M (Lower Sixth). We are incredibly proud of the contributions Isla M made and how well she answered the panels questions.

Winning teams take part in the national final; a residential competition weekend hosted by Imperial College London. This gives pupils a chance to distinguish themselves as exceptional within the fields of science, engineering, teamwork, and project management. A select group of winners are then invited to go from there to the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) at a NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre.

Our pupils are looking forward to participating in the Nationals in March 2024 at Imperial College London.

Mrs Karteepan
Head of Physics

Hear what our students had to say about the competition.

“It was a truly unique and exciting experience – our team contained members who had not only won the regionals previously but had competed in Nationals and in the International competition at NASA too. It was intense and it was hard work – nearly 12 hours to be precise – but the outcome was absolutely rewarding.”
Isla M
Lower Sixth

“The UKSDC was an enriching experience and I got to meet so many different people. Finding out the interdisciplinary nature of space physics and how applicable it is to so many aspects of life gave me a new appreciation for it and I’m so grateful that I got this opportunity. I’m looking forward to hopefully being victorious in our next adventure at Nationals.”
Isabella W
Upper Sixth

“I loved attending the UKSDC competition on Saturday and I enjoyed being able to work with other schools and learn from their knowledge of internationals last year. It was a long day starting at 9am and ending at 9pm, however I am grateful for the experience that I have gained from the day. I am very excited and can’t wait to compete at nationals.”
Eloane R
Lower Sixth

“The UKSDC was an unforgettable experience, and it was truly amazing to be able to cooperate with such a large team whilst also getting an insight as to what a design project may be like in the real world of work. I learnt the value of teamwork, compromise and effective communication and am looking forward to going to Nationals.”
Safa
Upper Sixth

“The UKSDC was a fun and enjoyable experience where we learned to work together as a team with multiple schools. Although winning the regionals was a fantastic achievement and a great surprise, I enjoyed working as a team with different people who share similar interests. It was a 12 hour long competition, however time flew by and we were already about to present our companies to the judges. The process didn’t seem that long, but in the end we had completed quite a bit of work and we greatly appreciated the delicious pizza at the very end. I can’t wait to take part in the nationals with the rest of our team, I am sure it will be a thrilling experience!”
Aashka P
Lower Sixth