Flight Experiment Design Competition

Compete for Adelphi’s ISS flight slot by developing and defending a formal microgravity research proposal through a real-world, peer-reviewed process.

Mission Adelphi Call for Proposals

Getting an experiment to the International Space Station starts the same way real space research does: with a competitive call for proposals.

This competition is open to student teams of 3-5 members. Teams compete for Adelphi University’s single flight slot by developing a formal microgravity research proposal, following the rigorous, peer-reviewed process professional scientists go through to secure limited research assets. At least 10 proposals are required from an undergraduate community like ours.

Flight Experiment Competition Process

  1. Team proposal development: Student teams design original microgravity experiments and submit formal research proposals.
  2. Two-step proposal review: Every proposal is evaluated through a formal review process.
  3. National Step 2 Review Board: Final selection is made by the SSEP National Step 2 Review Board.
  4. NASA flight safety review: The selected experiment undergoes safety review with NASA Johnson Space Center and Rhodium Scientific.
  5. Laboratory refinement: The student flight team refines the experiment design for flight readiness.
  6. Payload integration: The experiment is handed off to Rhodium Scientific in Houston, TX, and integrated into the spaceflight hardware and bundled with the SSEP experiments payload for launch.
  7. Launch: The payload launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX rocket, bound for the ISS.

Experience the entire lifecycle of professional research, from proposal to launch to data analysis.

Details about how to enter will be made available shortly.

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic collaboration with Rhodium Scientific, America’s first space biotech and ISS Commercial Service Provider, working with NASA through a CASIS Agreement to utilize its facilities aboard the International Space Station for this mission. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space endeavor.

Mission Adelphi Contact

Search Menu