COSMIC Capstone Challenge Hosts Successful Student Flash Talks
On December 9th, COSMIC’s Workforce Development Focus Area hosted the First Annual COSMIC Capstone Challenge (C3) Midpoint Showcase Flash Talks. Thirty-three groups of college and high school students showcased their progress in a national competition to develop In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) concepts.
This first-of-its-kind competition saw student leaders present their knowledge and ingenuity by developing hypothetical payloads that demonstrate a chain of three or more operations providing on-orbit, autonomous ISAM capability.
Students had five minutes to present hypothetical technologies addressing critical emerging needs in space. These ranged from removing space debris posing threat to orbiting spacecraft to manufacturing essential components that extend the lifecycle of existing hardware.
Expert practitioners from industry and government participated in the Flash Talks, providing guidance and feedback to the students.
“The COSMIC C3 participants have been absolutely brilliant,” said Jacob Rome, a COSMIC Workforce Development Focus Area co-lead. “The creativity and ingenuity brought forth by the students, combined with the mentorship and perspective of the experts who are volunteering their time, have produced some truly novel concepts that I suspect could be adopted for real demonstrations over the next few years.”
The C3 competition culminates in April 14-16, 2025 with final submissions – a technical paper and an out-brief from student groups – scored by COSMIC members who are experts in the field.
More information about the COSMIC Capstone Challenge can be found here.