We’ve had a busy start to 2024 at the Space Science and Engineering Foundation (SSEF), including the first Galactic Challenge of the year. 

At the end of January students arrived at Bede’s School and found themselves transported to the year 2054 to create designs for a new low Earth orbit settlement, AXelerate. AXelerate is a state of the art technology development settlement specialising in advanced satellite communications and artificial intelligence. Students from 11 primary and secondary schools including Blatchington Mill, Cardinal Newman and Croydon High School were split into 5 companies and tasked with producing intricate designs for AXelerate. 

And they were off! The RFP was delivered and the companies got to work on their designs for AXelerate; drawing up floor plans, outlining construction methods and detailing how AI is incorporated into their settlement. The CEO’s of each company highlighted how well the students worked together from the start and brought all of their ideas together to create well rounded designs. 

The students had worked up an appetite by lunchtime with all their hard work, but after a delicious canteen lunch kindly provided by Bede’s, the students were well fueled and ready to get back to work. The afternoon saw the companies continue to thrive with their creative ideas and bring their initial concepts into fruition through captivating powerpoints. As the submission deadline neared the students scrambled to get their final details on the slides and then turned to preparing their presentations. 

It was time for the companies to showcase their work to the judges and a packed out audience of their families and friends. All 5 companies did an incredible job of presenting their designs to us, the judges highlighted how well the students spoke and explained their ideas. Each presentation was followed up by some questions from the judging panel which all companies handled very well. It was evident on stage how the students were working together and supporting each other throughout the day. 

Despite having seen 5 fantastic presentations, there could only be one winner! After a difficult deliberation the judges announced the winner of the 2024 Bede’s Galactic Challenge to be Infinity Aerospace! Congratulations to the Infinity Aerospace Students on this excellent achievement. 

Overall, this year’s Bede’s Galactic Challenge was once again a huge success and greatly enjoyed by students, staff and parents who were able to attend. We saw a range of students excel in a large team environment and apply their knowledge to come up with plenty of creative and technically strong ideas. Hopefully we’ll see you all again next year or a UKSDC regional! 

A massive thank you to Bill Richards and everyone at Bede’s who made this Galactic Challenge another fantastic event.