OHB SE, one of Europe’s prominent satellite developers, and SGAC are collaborating to support 2 students or young professionals to attend the 21st Space Generation Congress (SGC) and the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) on 28-30 September and 2-6 October, 2023 respectively in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Application deadline: 15th May 2023, 23:59 UTC.Extended to 23rd May 2023, 23:59 UTC The competition is now closed.

Description

Asteroids Opportunity, Challenge and Thread

In the recent year’s asteroids and near earth objects have received additional attention. They offer both, a thread as well as an opportunity while the legal frame work can still be considered a challenge. Last year, the NASA lead DART mission impacted on an asteroid and the HERA mission of ESA, where OHB is prime contractor, will study the impact in order to further investigate the options of planetary defence. Asteroids also offer a huge potential for both, the space and earth economy. Metal rich near-Earth asteroids could contain significant amounts of metals and rare earths enabling in orbit manufacturing or boosting chip manufacturing.

With all this, the legal frame work is still challenging. When the Outer Space treaty was written asteroid mining was not even considered science fiction.

Now we need you on board this exciting challenge! We want to hear your ideas about how humankind could benefit from the NEAs, how we could defend against the thread they are posing or your ideas on how they can become a sustainable resource for the benefit of humankind.

The paper should reflect your idea either describing a business case, system or technology solution or legal ideas on how the legal frame work could evolve. Preferably all three topics could be covered.

Award

The author(s) of the winning essays will receive an award in order to attend the following events:

• 21st Space Generation Congress (SGC): 28-30 September 2023
• 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC): 2-6 October 2023

The award will include provisions for travel, accommodation, and registration for SGC and IAC. The amount for each of the two scholarships is € 2000. The winners will sit at the OHB table at the SGC gala dinner.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your complete application using the Scholarship Submission Form at the bottom of this page (please note, you must be logged in to see the application form).

Please submit your documents as unlocked PDF files. Your name(s) should be included at the top of all pages. Your submission should follow the competition guidelines below.

Guidelines

Eligibility

• The competition is open to all registered SGAC members between the ages of 18 to 35 inclusive (up to the day of their 36th birthday) on 30 September 2023.

1. The competition is open to individuals or teams, students or young professionals.
2. Competition organizers and judges are not eligible for this award.

Submission

1. The paper is due as an unlocked PDF document under 5 MB. It shall be submitted via the Scholarship Submission Form. You will need to be logged in as an SGAC member to access the submission page.
2. The paper should be limited to 1000 words maximum. If selected as winner, OHB will then ask you for the full elaboration of your work.
3. The language of all submissions shall be English.
4. The submission shall include original content and research. Work that has already been presented at a past conference or previously submitted to this competition is not eligible.
5. The paper should conform to all the rules for the submission to the IAC (including font, font size, page margin, pictures, etc..) with exception to length. The length is limited to 1000 words.
6. All team submissions must be done by one point of contact, main author of the paper and only person that will be recognised as the winner and reimbursed for the competition.
7. The winners of the competition will be required to deliver to OHB a presentation about their paper.

All submissions shall be made by the 15th May 2023, 23:59 UTC. 23rd May 2023, 23:59 UTC. Any submissions after the deadlines will not be considered.

In case of lack of quality of submissions, SGAC has the right to extend and or cancel the competition.

Responsibilities of the Winners

The winning authors shall:

• Attend the entire SGC 2023.
• Attend the entire IAC 2023.
• Support the running of SGC and the SGAC booth at IAC 2023. These tasks offer great opportunities such as being the rapporteur of an SGC working group and helping with writing a group report, being the front face of SGAC at the SGAC booth and meeting interesting people.
• Meet with the competition supporters during IAC 2023. The meeting will be organized by SGAC.
• Submit a short video (1 minute) describing their experience at SGC and IAC for inclusion on the SGAC website, newsletter or social media and that of our partner. The report and video shall describe the experience of the winner at the events. For example, speakers that were particularly interesting, group discussions that stood out or other event highlights.

All responsibilities shall be fulfilled and reports etc. submitted no later than 10 November 2023. In case the scholarship awardees do not complete the scholarship requirements on time, the scholarship funds will be transferred to SGAC general budget to continue supporting the mission and work of SGAC. 

Reimbursement

1. The award will be paid out after the SGC / IAC 2023, no later than 30 days after fulfilment of all responsibilities listed above.
2. The scholarship award reimbursement is conditioned on the awardee fulfilling the scholarship requirements no later than 30 November 2023.
3. In the case the winners receive funding for SGC and/or IAC 2023 by any other organization, the Scholarships Team shall be informed. If the applicants don’t inform the Scholarships Coordinators, SGAC holds the right not to reimburse the winning author. SGAC aims to reduce the number of double scholarships and will work with the winners to develop a solution in these cases.
4. Applicants are advised not to engage in any expenses until they have formal confirmation that the competition has been awarded. The SGAC is not liable for any expenses incurred by applicants in any case where a competition is not awarded, or in excess of the value of the awarded grant.
5. Reimbursements will follow the SGAC Scholarships Travel Policy & Reimbursement Guidelines. Please make sure to consult the Guidelines before incurring in expenses.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

1. By submitting an entry, applicants agree to permit SGAC and all affiliated organizers to mention their names, affiliations and headshot picture in connection with the competition.
2. Copyright of the submitted entry shall remain with the contestants. However, by submitting an entry all contestants agree that SGAC and all affiliated organizers are granted non-exclusive reproduction rights regarding all submitted papers. SGAC and all affiliated organizers may also present ideas and findings generated by this competition at relevant conferences.

Liability

1. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that SGC 2023 and/or IAC 2023 is cancelled. SGAC will not reimburse the winning author, even if he/she has already incurred expenses.
2. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that the award winner(s) fails to attend SGC 2023 and/or IAC 2023 or is unable to under extenuating circumstances; in that case the award offer shall become void.
3. Organizers shall not be responsible in the event that the award winner(s) cannot obtain any necessary travel documents; if they are required but not obtained, the award offer shall become void.

Evaluation

Evaluators will include members of the SGAC Scholarships team and OHB SE employees.

The evaluation will be made based on a point system taking following criteria and their weights into consideration:

• Scientific Content and Detail (40%)
• Originality (40%)
• Description of Concept (20%)

Schedule

Contact

For any questions, please refer to the SGAC Scholarships Team at [email protected]

Scholarships Application Form