UK Space Design Competition 2026

The St. Olave’s team for the Space Design Competition included: Sid Lade, Neha Joshi, Sahishnu Jadhav, Hanming Wang, Neal Ye, Mithuunan Sasikumar, Abhinav Malladi, Sofia Dallmann, India Mazloum, Om Kuravinakop.

The UK Space Design Competition is an annual industry simulation event for students in Years 10 to 13 where they act as companies, competing against each other to design a space settlement or spacecraft and win the contract. Participants gain experience in a simulated professional environment, with an emphasis on teamwork, creativity, and scientific and engineering problem-solving.

For the competition this year, ten students from St. Olave’s travelled to Imperial College in London, spending over twelve hours of their Saturday competing. Together with students from three other schools they formed the “Sapien” company. Their objective, to respond to a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) to design a space craft to move minerals between planets in the inner solar system.

It was a strong start for the St. Olaves’s students, with Sid Lade being elected Vice-President, with overall responsibility to ensure the forty students of the company achieved their objective. Our other students took key roles in the sub-groups that focused on covering aspects like structures, business, and human factors.

Collaboration and communication between the groups was key to successfully developing a detailed proposal. India Mazloum commented “Attending the UKSDC has taught me the importance of consultation and having the confidence to explain my ideas as well as the humility to listen to the ideas of others. It was challenging to complete the project within the given time, and I have learnt how to better plan and priorities.

The Sapien company room was a hive of activity throughout the day, each group working towards a set of deadlines, ultimately leading to the submission of the final design proposal.

After ten hours of intense collaboration, there was a well-earned break for food before representatives of each company presented their detailed presentation. In front of over a hundred other students, key members of each team pitched their ideas to the panel of expert judges, hoping to win them over with innovative technical design and engineering supported by a sound financial plan.

All our students recognised the skills they grew by participating. Hanming summarised some of the benefits, “Unlike other competitions which rely heavily on your own knowledge, UKSDC trains your imagination and ability to work in a team. I really like how you can make friends with people from other schools. There’s even free pizza!”