The SGAC Global Rising Star Award facilitates the attendance of space leaders from emerging countries at the Space Generation Congress (SGC) and the International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The winners will be representing the overall SGAC diversity, which brings unique and insightful firsthand perspectives to the SGC and IAC and back to their communities. 

The winners will receive an award to attend the following events:

• 23rd Space Generation Congress (SGC): 25-27 September 2025
• 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC): 29 September – 3 October 2025

The scholarship grant will fully or partially cover the round-trip travel costs to Sydney, Australia, accommodation, visa costs, and the registration fees for both events, in accordance with the SGAC Scholarship Reimbursement Policy. The exact amount of the travel grant dedicated to each winner will be communicated to the winners in their acceptance email. In total, USD $12,000 will be split up between 4-6 winners. The winners will be presented with an award certificate during the SGC.

Application Deadline: 1st of June 2025 23:59 GMT 

How to Apply?

This scholarship shall foster outstanding individuals from the different SGAC regions that have shown leadership skills, and engagement in their local community and within SGAC. Applications for the Scholarship are accepted at the bottom of this page (Please log in to the website or register as a member to see the application form).

You will be asked to provide two 1-minute videos to answer to the following questions:

• Please describe how you are contributing to the space sector in general and in your local community, and if selected for this scholarship, how do you plan to relay the knowledge you will gain in these events to your local community? (Max. 1 minute)

• Do you have a specific project you would like to pitch at these events? If not, which is your main drive and motivation to attend the events? And, why should you be selected and receive financial support for these events? (Max. 1 minute)

Guidelines

Eligibility

1. The scholarship is open to all students and young professionals from any UN Member or observer State. Participants must be eligible SGAC members (registered on the SGAC website) between the age of 18 to 35 (inclusive) as of the 25th of September, 2025.
2. Competition judges and organisers are ineligible for the award.

In the interest of giving opportunities to more members, SGAC reserves the right to prioritize applicants who have not recently received another SGAC scholarship of a similar nature. “Recently” is defined as having received a travel grant in the past two years, in the same category (either international or regional/national) as this posted award. International awards include scholarships for international events such as SGC/IAC, SGFF, and Space Symposium, while regional/national awards refer to events, such as the Space Generation Workshops (SGW), national space generation events (SG[country]), or other regional or national conferences. In the event that the SGC 2024 is cancelled, this scholarship will not be counted as an international travel grant, and winners are eligible to apply for another travel grant within the next two years.

Submission

1. The language of all submissions must be English.
2. Applicants will submit their application through the Scholarships Submission Form.
3. CVs will be uploaded to our application form. Format should be PDF or DOCX and no larger than 10 MB.
4. Any submissions after the deadline will not be considered.

Responsibilities of the Winner

1. The winners will be responsible for assisting with running the Space Generation Congress if necessary, acting as rapporteur for their discussion group, assisting with the compilation of the SGC final report, and attending the IAC.
2. Winners will be asked to record a video about their experience at SGC and IAC, which may be showcased in the SGAC newsletter, social media, or website.
3. Represent SGAC at the SGAC booth at IAC at assigned time slots.

Reimbursement

1. The award will be paid out after the event and upon fullfilment of all requirements in a suitable manner, as determined by the scholarship coordinators, including any report submissions and submissions of expense claims. 
2. The scholarship award reimbursement is conditioned on the awardee fulfilling the scholarship requirements not later than November 16th 2025.
3. If applicants receive funding for the 2025 SGC and/or the 76th IAC from any other organization, the scholarship coordinators must be informed. If applicants do not inform the scholarship coordinators, SGAC reserves the right to refuse reimbursement to the applicants if they become winners. SGAC aims to reduce the number of double scholarships and will work with the winners to develop a solution in these cases.
4. Reimbursements will follow the SGAC Scholarships Travel Policy & Reimbursement Guidelines. Applicants are advised not to incur any expenses until they have formal confirmation that the grant has been awarded. SGAC is not liable for any expenses incurred by applicants in any case where competition is not awarded, or in excess of the value of the awarded grant.

Please visit SGAC scholarships Reimbursement Form for the reimbursement form and additional information on the reimbursement process.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

1. By submitting an entry, applicants agree to permit SGAC to mention their names, affiliations, and headshot picture in connection with the scholarship.

Liability

1. Organizers will not be responsible in the event that the 23rd SGC and/or 76th IAC is cancelled. SGAC will not reimburse the winners, even if they have already incurred expenses.
2. SGAC will not be responsible in the event that the award winner fails to attend the 23rd SGC and/or 76th IAC. In this case, the award offer will become void.
3. SGAC will not be responsible in the event that the award winner is not able to obtain the necessary travel documents to attend the events. If the documents are required but not obtained, the award offer will become void.
4. The award is not transferable to another event or individual.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel composed of the SGAC Leadership, and Scholarship Team Members.

The evaluation will be made based on the following criteria:

• Contribution to SGAC and the the local and global space community: involvement in SGAC, research, help to other students/young professionals, involvement in other space organizations, etc. (35%)
• Motivation, project/main drive to attend the events (35%)
• CV (20%)
• Country of residence and access to opportunity (10%)

We look forward to your contribution and thank you for taking part in this space endeavor!

Schedule

Contact

For any questions regarding this scholarship, please email the Scholarships Team at [email protected].

Apply!

Applications to scholarships are available to SGAC members only. 

Please log in or register to complete your application to this scholarship.