How South African learners can compete at NASA through a new space design competition
About 150 secondary school learners are expected to compete in the inaugural South African Space Design Competition national finals at the University of Cape Town later this month.
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Cape Town learners will soon compete for a chance to represent South Africa at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center when the country hosts the inaugural national finals of the South African Space Design Competition at the University of Cape Town later this month.
The South African Space Design Competition (ZASDC), the country’s first national chapter of the International Space Settlement Design Competition network, will hold its national finals at the University of Cape Town on March 30 and 31. About 150 secondary school learners from multiple schools are expected to take part in a two-day aerospace industry simulation.
The winning team will represent South Africa at the international finals hosted at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in July 2026, opening an international aerospace competition pathway previously unavailable to many local learners.
The competition is open to learners from Grades 8 to 12 across all school types and does not require entry fees or prior experience. Teams may also include students from different schools, a model organisers say is aimed at improving access and diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
Participants will be grouped into simulated aerospace “companies” of up to 50 students and will respond to a Request for Proposal issued at the finals by designing a full space settlement concept and presenting a business case to judges.
Students will work across five departments, Structures, Operations, Human Factors, Automation and Mission Systems, and Business and Marketing, reflecting how real aerospace engineering teams operate.
ZASDC founder Jagger Cooper-Doubell said the competition was created to ensure South African learners had access to international opportunities in the field.
“I competed at Kennedy Space Center twice and spent both trips as the only South African in the building. ZASDC exists because that shouldn't still be true,” he said.
The University of Cape Town will host the national finals and act as an academic partner, while the UCT Astronomy and Space Society will provide mentorship and volunteer support to participating learners.
The competition forms part of a global network of space settlement design competitions coordinated by the Space Science and Engineering Foundation, with national chapters operating in countries including the United Kingdom, Spain and Romania.
According to organisers, the international finals bring together more than 250 learners from dozens of countries each year to tackle real-world aerospace challenges.
Early interest in the South African competition has been strong, with 73 learners already formally registered and 19 additional schools in the process of signing up before the March 14 registration deadline.
Organisers say the initiative aims to build a more representative pipeline of future engineers, scientists and innovators while connecting South African learners to the global aerospace education community.