SSIC Quick Guide
This quick reference guide provides a launching point for making the choices that customize your SSIC innovation to your own unique research and tracking the tasks and available resources in each phase of the SSIC cohort.
Local Sponsorships
The SSIC is a great chance for businesses and organizations to support local students and reach more potential customers. Teams that need outside funding are encouraged to consider garnering local sponsorships to support their participation in the SSIC.
How to Use
CTE Funds
Because of the STEM connection, SSIC also qualifies for CTE funding to help support teams taking part in the Challenge. Following is more information on CTE funds and some quick guidance on securing this funding to help you participate.
What is the SSIC?
Interested in The Space Station Innovation Challenge? Discover our hands-on, project-based experience for high and college students that combines STEM concepts with the excitement of living and working in space. SSIC challenges students to design and implement innovative solutions that enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and reliability of future space station capabilities arranged around Space station operations, research, and commercial applications on a space station.
Quick Guide Tutorial
Check out this video for the quick reference guide with concise summaries, visual markers, and clear picture of the tasks and available resources in each phase of the SSIC cohort. It’s a great go-to for any coach, team leader, or anyone interested in the challenge.
Challenge Guide Tutorial
Watch this overview of our SSIC Challenge Guide. It’s designed to help teams clarify the challenge objectives by defining the challenge scope, objectives, deliverables, and key milestones to ensure that everyone involved understands the goals and the desired outcomes.
Optional Activities Guide Tutorial
Explore this video on our NGSS aligned, educator friendly, accompanying supplemental mission activities which encourage creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills, while providing extensive background information arranged around space station operations, research, commercial, and agricultural applications on a space station.
How to Register
Struggling to get registered? Watch this video detailing all aspects of the registration process, from initial registration on the website, locating and applying registration credits, to adding your team and navigating the ICS dashboard.
Navigating the ICS Dashboard
Watch this tutorial video to learn more about the procedures for submitting artifacts and tasks on the SSIC website.
Iss National Laboratory
Since 2011, the ISS National Lab has selected more than 200 ISS research projects. Working together with NASA, the ISS National Lab aims to advance the nation’s leadership in commercial space, pursue groundbreaking science not possible on Earth, and leverage the space station to inspire the next generation.
NASA International Space Station
The International Space Station is an unprecedented achievement in global human endeavors to conceive, plan, build, operate, and utilize a research platform in space. With assembly of station at completion, continuity of visiting vehicles, and support of a full-time crew of six, the era of utilization for research advances.
Starlab Oasis Space Station
Voyager is building the first continuously crewed, free-flying, commercial space station to serve NASA and space agencies around the globe. Leveraging innovative technologies, Starlab is designed with accessible infrastructure tools to conduct investigations, advance scientific discovery, and foster industrial activity in microgravity.
Northrup-Grumann Commercial Space Station
Under a NASA Space Act Agreement, Northrop Grumman’s vision for a commercial free-flying space station in low Earth orbit (LEO) focuses on a delivering a safe, reliable and cost-effective solution that will continue the work of the International Space Station (ISS), enabling a smooth transition to commercial operations. Northrop Grumman envisions an accessible marketplace, optimized and tailored to support a variety of customers across multiple markets.
Orbital Reef Space Station
Designed for use cases and ideas never before possible, Orbital Reef unlocks LEO by reducing cost and complexity for new kinds of customers. We provide end-to-end services, standard interfaces, and technical support needed by space flight novices: planning, payload development, training, transportation, data analysis, and security for your people or payloads (or both).
15 Benefits of Space Station Research
The first decade of the International Space Station was the decade of construction. The second decade moved from initial studies to fully using the capabilities of the orbiting laboratory. We have now entered the decade of results. With more than 20 years of experiments conducted on station, more breakthroughs are materializing than ever before.
