INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
ANNOUNCEMENT
2024 International Space Solar Power Student Competition
1 February 2024

Dear Colleague(s),The need to advance the goals of STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics)
education is especially important in encouraging the emergence of future generations ofresearchers, technologists, entrepreneurs and innovators in the space sector in general, andin particular in the special fields of expertise required for the successful exploration,
development and eventual settlement of space. The critical topic of Space Solar Power (SSP)– harvesting solar energy in space affordably and delivering it to markets in space and onEarth – has been studied as a vision for Humanity’s future for almost 50 years. This topic has
never been more important as Climate Change issues become increasingly clear and theneed for energy in cis-Lunar space becomes critical.
If Space Solar Power – which is both critical to space development and settlement and anincreasingly important option in efforts to mitigate Climate Change – is to become a reality,
this must change.
SPACE Canada1, the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Power Committee,
Commission III of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the National Space Society(NSS) International Space Development Conference (ISDC) SSP Track,and the Space

Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in a cooperative effort have organized an annual
faculty-advised, student-conducted international research and engineering research/paper
competition on the topic of Space Solar Power.2 The early years of the Competition havebeen highly successful – involving many dozens of project proposals and multiple university /college participants and dozens of students; leading to original research studies that werepresented at the annual IAF Power Symposia of the International Astronautical Congress(IAC) annually over the past several years. On the basis of these prior years, the participatingorganizations have decided to continue this effort with developing a dual track during 2022
to 2025 with a focus on development at the local student level, the social community level
and the systems level.

1

SPACE Canada is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Canada; the purpose of the organization
is to promote international dialogue on and understanding of the topic of Space Solar Power.

2

It is anticipated that with time some organizations may be added as participants in implementing the annualcompetition, while others may choose not to be involved; as the foundation of the competition, SPACE Canadais the principal sponsor of the effort, and the prizes. Cooperation has been established among SPACE Canada,
the IAF Power Committee, the IAF Power Committee, the ISDC SSP Track organizers, the SGAC.

1INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
This letter is the announcement of that competition.
This year of this new competition will be staged this year in three rounds:●Step 1: Initial proposals and selection of project teams to participate initially in thecompetition (circa end of April).

●Step 2: Presentations of initial project results by the chosen semi-finalists. For those able totravel, semi-finalists projects shall be presented in person at the International NSS Space
Development Conference (ISDC), to be held this year during May 23-26, 2024 in Los
Angeles, California. For those unable to travel due to restrictions, online presentation
options will be arranged, for example using zoom.

●Step 3: Presentations of the finalists’ project results will be at the 75th International
Astronautical Congress (IAC 2024) Space Power Symposium – this year to be held in
October 14-18, 2024, in Milan, Italy – followed by selection of a winner for the year for
the Mark Hopkins Award. Again, it is expected that for those able to travel, finalist
projects will be presented in person at the IAC 2024;

The following additional details are also announced:
1. Up to six teams will be considered for selection as semi-finalists (Step 2 above)following which the Judges will select the finalists in this year’s competition.
2. Support for travel to the ISDC in Los Angeles, California, USA will be provided for semifinalist teams totaling up to USD $1,500 per team in expense reimbursement, with theactual amount to be determined based on the location at which the student teamis based.
3. Support for travel to the IAC 2024 will be provided for the finalist teams totaling up to$3,000 per team in expense reimbursement, with the actual amount to bedetermined based on the location at which the student team is based.
4. For teams that are unable to attend events above due to travel restrictions, cash
prizes will be awarded; these cash prizes will not exceed 50% of the travel supportamount per team as shown above. Specific amounts will be determined on a caseby-case basis.
5. IAC 2024 submitted papers and presentation slide decks from all teams will beposted on the SPACE Canada website to become part of the literature of spacesolar power for the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the public.
If you would like to receive more information about the updated 2024 SSP student
competition, please contact us at: competition@spacecanada.org

The deadline for abstract submission of 2024 project team proposals is April 26, 2024. Thankyou and be safe.

2INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024

ADDITIONAL COMPETITION INFORMATION is provided in ANNEX A, which follows.
CONTENT GUIDELINES for the 2024 International SSP Student Competition are provided in
ANNEX B, which follows.
JUDGING CRITERIA for the 2024 International SSP Student Competition are provided in
ANNEX C, which follows.

ANNEX A
ADDITIONAL 2024 SSP STUDENT COMPETITION INFORMATION
The following are additional details concerning the 2024 Competition.
1. This will be the third year of an annual competition open to further intensification ofresearch and development for teams that wish to join the second track as it develops
through to 2025.
2. The purpose of the competition is to engender new, meaningful and credible student
research projects in the broad field of Space Solar Power, and to support thepresentation of the best of the various projects in an international forum including
explicit recognition of the best research with a formal prize. Each team will then be able
to learn from the experience and the community contact during each annual event toimprove on and develop their ideas and research in each succeeding year. Teams arestrongly encouraged to review and seek out advice to protect any IP they intend toretain prior to submission or presentation as the rules on IP protection are complex andhave different entry processes for each national jurisdiction. SPACE Canada is not
responsible for the protection of any team IP at any stage of the contests.
3. The International Space Solar Power Student Competition Prize for 2024 will have fourparts: (a) reimbursed travel3 and registration support for selected semi-finalist teams toattend the annual ISDC (see below); (b) a formal certificate of recognition for selectedsemi-finalist teams (as a team, and for each team member, including the facultyadvisor); (c) reimbursed travel and registration support for up to three selected finalist
teams to attend the annual IAC SSP Symposium (see below); (d) a formal certificate forthe selected winning team(s) for the Mark Hopkins Award.
4. The competition is open to participation by faculty-coached, student-implemented
project team, including a faculty advisor, not fewer than two undergraduate students
and potentially one or more graduate students from any accredited international
3Funding support provided by Competition will be provided in the form of reimbursement of expenses incurred bya selected and previously-approved team at each stage of the competition; it may be used for (1) airfare, (2)ground transportation, (3) lodging, and (4) meeting registration fees, up to a determined maximum based upon
participation levels as well as location of participants. Funds may not be used for reimbursement of food or
related expenses.

3

INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
college or university. A given project team may involve more than a single university in
an integrated team; however, each team from any participating college or university
must include not less than two undergraduate students and one faculty advisor. Allstudents must be aged 35 years or under at the time of the IAC 2024.
5. The competition will involve three stages: (1) registration and proposal / abstract
submission by proposing teams; (2) following selection of semi-finalists by Competition
Judges, preliminary presentation of interim results at the annual NSS International Space
Development Conference being held during May 23-26, 2024 in Los Angeles, California,USA (see https://isdc.nss.org) and (3) following selection of finalist teams, presentation(with a formal technical paper) of up to three best projects at the IAF Power Committee
Solar Power Satellite (SPS) Session at the annual International Astronautical Congress(IAC), to be held in October 14-18, 2024 in Milan, Italy (https://iac2024.org).
6. Semi-finalists in the annual competition will be chosen by an independent review
process based on submitted abstracts and draft presentation materials; these will beprovided with a fixed level of financial support for their attendance and presentation ofinterim results at the annual ISDC SSP Track. (A team participating in the ISDC must send
to the Conference not less than one member of the student team and one faculty
advisor; however otherwise the decision as to who should participate and how the funds
should be distributed among team members to meet travel and registration costs will beflexible.) If a team cannot attend the ISDC due to travel restrictions, provisions will bemade for an online presentation, for example via zoom.
7. Finalists in the annual competition will be chosen by an independent review process
based on the presentations made at the annual ISDC SSP Track, and updated draft
research presentation results. In the event that no project teams are adjudged to haveachieved a sufficiently high level of technical accomplishment in a given year, noaward will be made during that year.
8. The chosen winner(s) will be provided with a fixed level of financial support for theirattendance and presentation of interim results at the annual IAC SPS Symposium. A
formal paper is required, and must be submitted to the IAC according to the rules of theconference. Participation in the IAC must comprise not less than one student teammember and one faculty advisor; however otherwise the decision as to who should
participate and how the funds should be distributed among team members to meettravel and registration costs will be flexible. If a team cannot attend the ISDC due totravel restrictions, provisions will be made for an online presentation, for example viazoom.
9. In order to be eligible, members of each competing team (as described elsewhere)
must generally be available and able to attend and present at the ISDC (semi-finalist)
and the IAC (finalist). However, If a team cannot attend the ISDC due to travel
restrictions, provisions will be made for an online presentation, for example via zoom.

4

INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
10. Teams accepted are allowed to apply to the second track, which is planned as a four
year developmental pathway to taking the Teams concept idea forward throughdevelopment to a point where it could potentially become a startup Space Solar Powerbusiness. The Teams that wish to participate will be evaluated by an Accelerator which
is being set up for this purpose and will receive further and more in depth advice andassistance toward this longer term goal.
11. The first deadline for participation in the 2024 competition is development andsubmission of an abstract for a proposed student research project by not later than
April 26, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.
We look forward to participation by students and faculty from accredited colleges anduniversities globally in this year’s competition. If you would like to indicate interest in
participating and to obtain additional information, please contact us at the email addressprovided.

5INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
ANNEX BCOMPETITION CONTENT DETAILSThe competition will encompass multiple disciplines related to Space Solar Powertechnologies, including but not limited to:
Acceptable disciplines/fields for research projects include:●architecture level system design activities, cost-benefit studies, environmental
footprint studies, etc.;●

end-to-end energy concepts & technology (including wireless powertransmission (WPT), solar power generation and distribution, etc.);●

structural systems, in-orbit assembly, controls and dynamics technology, andmodeling of these considerations;●flight and/or space transportation technology and engineering for the SPS(including Earth-to-orbit or in-space transportation and/or propulsion);●ground systems and integration

In addition, acceptable cross-cutting topics of general interest include:●

the potential value of SPS in reaching goals to mitigate climate change
issues; and,●near-term demonstration of relevant SPS concepts and technology;●

mid-term demonstrations of relevant SPS concepts and technology (for example inlow Earth orbit);●space resources utilization for SPS;

●space policy, legal and regulatory considerations across all of the above(including international cooperation, spectrum management, space debris,etc.); and,●financing concepts for SPS systems and development.

If you have any question about the acceptability of your prospective topics, feel free tocontact us at: competition@spacecanada.org

6

INTERNATIONAL SPACE SOLAR POWER STUDENT COMPETITION | 2024
ANNEX CCOMPETITION JUDGING CRITERIA
Judging criteria points
1. Is the abstract written clearly and organized well?
2. Is the topic of scientific or methodological importance, with a clear link to SSP?
3. Is the work original and inventive, with no evidence of plagiarism?
4. Is the project-idea aligned to this year’s competition focus?
5. Is there a background/problem statement and is the scope/hypothesis well defined?
6. Is the study design capable of meeting the aim, with a clear methodological approach?
7. Are the potential findings likely to be scientifically sound and statistically significant?
8. Is there a coherent conclusion or summary, including next steps or recommendations?
Quality of submission
Up to ten project-ideas will be considered for selection as semi-finalist of the competition
based on abstract quality, following which the Judges will select the finalists in this year’scompetition. To determine abstract quality, a score out of ten has been awarded to eachsubmission by the competition judging panel, according to the criteria points listed above.
Please be aware that the judging panel’s decision is final and there will be no opportunity forappeal.
In terms of your project-idea, each member of the judging panel has provided a score forthe listed criteria points. You can find the results of this process below, along with the overall
average score assigned to your project-idea in the bottom right cell. Your score was thencompared against the entire applicant pool to determine whether it was amongst the top six
submissions and, hence, advancing to the semi-final stage. This decision can be found in thenext section followed by reviewer feedback.

Reviewer

Judging Criteria
Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

Point 4

Point 5

Point 6

Point 7

Point 8Maximum1--------

80

2--------

803--------

80

4--------

80

5-

-

-

--

---

80

Maximum

1010101010101010807