Submitted by Lynne F. Zielinski, NSS VP of Education Emerita, and Frances Dellutri, NSS Director of Education
Image: ispace HAKUTO-R M1 lander photography, April 20, 2023, courtesy ispace-U.S.
Two exciting international contests will have student artwork fly into space through the collaboration between ispace-U.S. and the National Space Society (NSS). This unique opportunity has been offered by ispace-U.S. to the NSS Goddard 100 Contest and the NSS Roadmap to Space Art Contest.
By entering these contests, students have the opportunity of having their artwork flown into space … maybe even to the Moon!
ispace-U.S. is a lunar exploration company providing transportation and infrastructure capabilities from Earth to lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon for government and commercial customers. ispace-U.S. will utilize its APEX 1.0 lunar lander to conduct its Mission to increase the frequency of lunar landings to transport customer payloads to the Moon. ispace-U.S. and the National Space Society (NSS) are in collaboration to give winners of the Goddard 100 Contest and the Roadmap to Space Art Contest the unique opportunity to have their work sent to the Moon as a digital payload aboard an upcoming ispace-U.S. lunar mission. The future plan is subject to change.
The National Space Society is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. As a membership organization, NSS has an interest in providing benefits to its members and seeks to accomplish this in part by providing students unique opportunities that will help prepare them to become part of the space workforce. With the support of this NSS/ispace-U.S. collaboration, two NSS contests will further that goal.
Contest 1: Goddard 100 Contest
The Goddard 100 Contest celebrates the launch of the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, by Robert Goddard (the Father of Modern Rocketry), and the innovations made in rocket technology in the last 100 years. This contest is a collaboration between NSS and the SmallSat Education Conference. ispace-U.S. has agreed to further support the contests by joining the collaboration to fly contest images into space. An exciting development is an anticipation that ispace-U.S employees may be interested in functioning as judges in this contest.
Robert H. Goddard was a true visionary, who foresaw humankind traveling to the Moon and beyond. In a feat that is as important as the Wright Brothers Kittyhawk flight, Goddard engineered our future by developing the first successful liquid-fueled rocket that would ultimately enable travel beyond the confines of Earth. This advancement in rocketry allowed the rocket to be throttled or shut down to conserve energy and offered a higher energy density than gunpowder, allowing for more power and higher exhaust velocities. The Goddard story is one of innovation, perseverance, engineering, and focus as he pursued his vision of space exploration. The National Space Society hopes to inspire a new generation to become engineers, educators, innovators, and visionaries, and to continue the work of Goddard and the remarkable men and women who have helped realize our place in today’s rocketry programs.
The international Goddard 100 Contest calls for students to submit an application within three divisions:
- Junior division (ages 9-11) students submit a hand-drawn cartoon story about the history of rocketry and are challenged to bring their ideas of the future into their story. They will also be asked to answer questions about their cartoon story.
- Intermediate division (ages 11-14) entrants will also hand-draw a cartoon story and supplement the cartoon with a detailed narrative that discusses the speculative advancements and scenarios in the future of space exploration and the use of space.
- Senior division (ages 14 -19) entrants will recognize the work of Robert H. Goddard as an inspiration for the future of space travel and rocketry. This gives these students the opportunity to use their creativity to connect with the beginnings of rocketry and imagine innovative ideas that might be a part of the future of space travel. Senior division students will produce an infographic and an essay on their topic.
The Goddard 100 Contest will accept applications until January 31, 2026, with an announcement of winners around March 16, 2026.
Contest 2: Roadmap to Space Art Contest
There are many roads to space. The Roadmap to Space Art Contest visits some of these pathways through a vision of the mind, challenging students to produce a piece of traditionally made artwork that shares their ideas relating to the 2026 theme: “My Vacation in Space”. The contest was named after an NSS publication, The Roadmap to Space Settlement, which identifies and outlines major milestones along the road to achieving a permanent human presence beyond Earth.
The first version of the Roadmap to Space Settlement Student Art Contest was held in 2013 and called on students to create artwork that illustrated specified milestones to space settlement from the NSS Roadmap publication. The contest was successful and was held annually from 2014 through 2017. It was revived in 2023 as the NSS Roadmap to Space Art Contest and partnered with the SmallSat Education Conference with the theme of creating a “Vision of a Future in Space.” An opportunity to send the winning artwork into space aboard a Blue Origin suborbital rocket sparked substantial interest, receiving nearly 5,799 global entries.
The contest has continued to grow and evolve. The theme for the 2024 contest was “Our Future in the Space Workforce” and challenged students to embark on a visual journey into a future in which the cosmos has evolved into an incredible work of human ingenuity and creativity — a world where people are living and working on the Moon, Mars, the asteroids, and where orbital space settlements like O’Neill settlements are realities.
Students may participate in the 2025 Roadmap to Space Art Contest under one of four divisions: middle school (ages 10-14), high school (ages 14-19), university (ages 19-22), or graduate school (ages 23-25). This year’s theme is “My Vacation in Space,” and asks students to create artwork from the viewpoint of a tourist in the solar system. Students create their vision of a future for humanity in space through art using traditional methods and non-AI generated techniques. Students may send artwork on postcards into space aboard a Blue Origin suborbital rocket, which will be returned to them after flight. ispace-U.S. is providing an additional opportunity to have exemplary artwork digitally sent further—all the way to the Moon. Submission Deadline: October 5, 2025
Visit the NSS Roadmap to Space Art Contest website and take a look at the 2024 Winners eBook.
Promotion of ispace-U.S. collaboration with the NSS contests:
Information on both contests will be given at these NSS Education events:
- Scouting America: 2025 Council Camporee: Time Trek – A Journey through the Ages, September 20, 2025, Sandwich, IL (attendees: ~1,000 Scouts and adults)
- SmallSat Education Conference, October 25 – 26, 2025, Orlando, FL (attendees: ~1000 students and adults)
- Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC), February 4-7, 2026, Space Center Houston (attendees: ~500 Educators)
- NSS International Space Development Conference, June 4-7, 2026, Hilton Mclean Tysons Corner, McLean, VA (Washington DC Metropolitan Area) (attendees: ~1,000 students and adults)
E-blasts:
- NSS will send out monthly mailings and updates for each contest and the ispace-U.S. collaboration to educators, students, domestic and international museums. (Mailing list:~6,000 recipients)
- The NSS twice-monthly Downlink newsletter promoting the ispace-U.S. collaboration will be sent to NSS members.
Social media:
- Various NSS social media platforms will carry information about the contests and the ispace -U.S. collaboration (Facebook, X.com, Instagram.com, LinkedIn.com)