Mission Idea Contest (MIC)

13/03/2026

🚀 PreMIC10 is now open!

The website for the 10th Pre-Mission Idea Contest (PreMIC10) has just been launched!

✨ This year’s theme:
“Orbit Change Without Using a Propulsion System”

How can we change orbits without using propulsion?
We’re looking forward to seeing your creative ideas!

🔗 Learn more & join:
https://www.spacemic.net/index.html

📢 Want to learn more?
Prof. Shinichi Nakasuka will introduce PreMIC10 at the Virtual UNISEC-Global Meeting on March 21.
If you would like to learn more about the contest, please feel free to join the meeting.
https://unisec-global.org/virtual-meeting.html

👉 Feel free to share this post and spread the word to anyone interested in space missions.

We look forward to many mission ideas!

13/03/2026

The MIC9 results:

🥇1st Place
CubeSat Mission Concept for TREED (The REceiver Exploring Darkages)
Takato Hatae and Yojiro Yamashiro, The University of Tokyo, Japan

🥈2nd Place
VISTA-PIPR Virtual Immersive Sensing and Terrain Analysis for Polar Ice Prospecting Rover Mission
Abdulla Hil Kafi, Yuzuki Fukata, Taichi Nakamura and Kosuke Iwatsu, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan

🏅Student Prize
SLINQI – Stellenbosch Lunar Interferometric Network for Quasistatic Imaging
Jandré Frey, Russouw Grobbelaar and Nortier Geyer, Stellenbosch University (SLINQI), South Africa

🏅IAA Award
Taiwan-India Lunar Dust Analysis (TILDA) Mission
Ying Liao, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan

The recording of MIC9 is avairable on the MIC9 website.
https://www.spacemic.net/index9.html

The full papers of MIC9 finalists will be published as e-book.
Please look forward to it!!

31/08/2025

MIC9 finalist from South Africa is ready for the final presentation (on Nov 1, in Tokyo)

Seven engineering students from Stellenbosch University (SU) have been selected to represent South Africa at a global space engineering competition in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 November.

This is according to Dr Arno Barnard, senior lecturer in electrical and electronic engineering at SU and supervisor of the students’ satellite concept project, Stellenbosch Lunar Interferometric Network for Quasi-static Imaging.

Opportunities like this put South African students on the global map, said Barnard.

Click the link for more.
( https://www.smfnews.org/to-the-moon-su-students-chosen-for-space-engineering-competition/ )

: Onthatile Mahlangu

13/04/2025

April 15 is the deadline for abstract submission for the 9th Mission Idea Contest. (To the Moon!)

We will have a format-checking period till April 21 (JST).
Please submit the abstract, even if it is not completed.
You will have a little more time to revise it.

The Mission Idea Contest (MIC) was established last year to provide aerospace engineers, college students, consultants, and anybody interested in space with opportunities to present their creative ideas and gain attention internationally. The primary goal of MICs is to open a door to a new facet of....

12/02/2025

PreMIC9 finalists who could not present at the in-person workshop in South Africa will give presentations about their mission idea.

If you are interested in applying MIC9, please join the 53rd Virtual UNISEC-Global Meeting this Saturday.

25/12/2024

🌕The 9th Mission Idea Contest: to the Moon🛰

The abstract submission for the MIC9 is open.
Theme:
Lunar Mission

Categories:
Lunar Orbit CubeSat Mission (LOCM)
Lunar Surface Rover Mission (LSRM)

You can find the abstract template and information.
https://www.spacemic.net/index.html

Please submit your abstract no later than April 15.

🗓Important Dates
Abstract submission due: April 15, 2025
Notification: May 20, 2025
Full Paper submission due: August 5, 2025
Final Presentation: T.B.D. 2025 (in Japan)

We look forward to your mission idea!

The Mission Idea Contest (MIC) was established last year to provide aerospace engineers, college students, consultants, and anybody interested in space with opportunities to present their creative ideas and gain attention internationally. The primary goal of MICs is to open a door to a new facet of....

25/12/2024

🛰PreMIC9 was successfully concluded on November 27 in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Four teams from Bulgaria, Indonesia, Nigeria and Taiwan made presentations.

1st Place:
YiYu Chang and Yuhsiu Tien, National Central University, Taiwan
"Lunar Ionosphere Characterization and GNSS Evaluation through Multi-Satellite Occultation (LIGEMO)"

08/10/2024

MIC8 book is now published and available on the IAA website online shop at:
https://iaaspace.org/product/the-mic8-report/

It would be helpful if you are interested in learning Nano/micro satellite constellation missions.

Proceedings of the 8th Mission Idea Contest (MIC8)

17/09/2024

Finalists for PreMIC9 can be found here.

The Mission Idea Contest (MIC) was established last year to provide aerospace engineers, college students, consultants, and anybody interested in space with opportunities to present their creative ideas and gain attention internationally. The primary goal of MICs is to open a door to a new facet of....

23/05/2024

The PreMIC9 Flyer is ready.
Abstract submission is open now.
Please submit your idea by no later than July 24, 2024.
https://spacemic.net/