Parliament Hill Students Win UK Space Design Challenge (SDC) National Finals!

On Sat 8th and Sun 9th March, a group of talented Year 10 and 11 students from Parliament Hill School travelled to Imperial College London to compete in the UK Space Design Challenge National Finals. Accompanied by teachers Thanos Papapostolou, Emma Cater and Joe Wellington the students took part in an intense and inspiring competition that brought together young innovators from across the country.

The UK Space Design Competition is a multidisciplinary, space-themed challenge designed to simulate life in the space industry. Supported by the Space Science Engineering & Environmental Foundation (SSEF), the competition places students into teams that form fictional engineering companies. Together, they must design a crewed space settlement somewhere within our solar system.

Set 40 to 80 years in the future, the competition immerses students in the imaginative Space Design Challenge universe. Participants work within a detailed fictional world that includes more than 20 settlements and around 50 subcontractor companies, each offering specialised goods and services. Students must use these resources strategically while responding to a detailed “Request for Proposal”, much like engineers and designers would in a real industry setting.

During the national finals, the Parliament Hill team was tasked with designing a self-sustaining moon base capable of hosting both tourists and permanent residents. Over a demanding 24-hour period — including an exciting overnight stay near Imperial College - the students collaborated with four other sixth forms to make up the “Sapien” fictional company. Together, they worked to design the base’s structures, technologies and human-centred systems to ensure safety, sustainability and comfort far from Earth.

Despite the long hours and little sleep, the team showed remarkable dedication and creativity. By Sunday morning, slightly sleepy but full of determination, they presented their proposal to a panel of space industry experts and academics, confidently answering questions about their design, engineering solutions and long-term sustainability plans.

Their hard work paid off spectacularly. The Parliament Hill students and wider Sapien company were crowned winners of the UK-wide competition, bringing home medals and securing a proud moment in Parli Physics history.

Congratulations to the outstanding students who represented the school so brilliantly:

Yasmin 
Defne 
Frieda 
Lily 
Jayda 
Megan 
Paromita 
Vesa
Lucia  

“We are so proud of what they have achieved. They really threw themselves into the work and it was inspiring to see them share their ideas so confidently. These are such valuable skills that they can take forward in their school and professional lives!” – Thanos Papapostolou and Emma Cater.