Space Settlement Design Competition: Physics-and-Math Springboard for IP Students

Q: What does Space Settlement Design Competition: Physics-and-Math Springboard for IP Students cover?
A: The SSDC turns IP-level equations into real-world decisions: mass budgets, solar arrays, and rocket equations.

TL;DR
The Space Settlement Design Competition (SSDC) is a NASA-affiliated, industry-simulation challenge where high school students design orbital habitats. Over 9,000 students from 20+ countries participate annually.
For Singapore IP students, the SSDC builds direct fluency in vector maths, artificial gravity, solar-power calculations, and project-pitching skills-all while preparing them for WA pacing and spreadsheet-based Physics Paper 4 practicals.

Registration quick answer (global): Space Settlement Design Competition runs regional qualifiers; teams enter via the official site and listed regional partners. See current routes: https://www.aerospaceeducationcompetitions.org/

1 What is the SSDC?

The SSDC is a global aerospace design competition founded in 1984 by Boeing engineer Anita Gale and others to simulate real-world Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. Students aged 15-18 form fictional “companies” to design space settlements.
They must submit detailed designs (mass, cost, structural, life-support specs) to a mock client-in 24 hours or less.

Regional winners qualify for the International Finals, typically held each July at NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

• ISSDC Overview
• ISSDC Rulebook & Resources
• NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

2 Competition Format