The 5th Italian Space Startup Competition (ISSC) is an event organized by the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) Italy, with the support of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), which will be held in presence on March 16th and 17th 2024 in Rome.
The competition is directed at people interested in space entrepreneurship, with or without pre-existing business ideas; all participants must be between the ages of 18 and 35.
During the two-day event, participants will have the opportunity to interact with experts from the space field and to work in teams, discussing ideas and shaping them into business cases. The participants will benefit from the support of mentors, whose backgrounds and expertise are diverse and cover different areas of the space sector.
ISSC aims to promote the interest of the young generation in the space business and to bring forth the next generation of entrepreneurs. The initiative encourages knowledge sharing and fosters innovation, also aiming at providing participants with the necessary backdrop to network, learn and shape the future.
The event is dedicated - but not limited - to new graduates, students and young professionals who are interested in working in the space sector and are willing to take on a challenge in a business context. The interdisciplinary nature of the event allows people from any background, be it engineering, law, economics or else, to participate. An ad-hoc session will allow participants to get to know each other and form diversified teams to aim for the top.
The 2024 edition of the competition is sponsored, among others, by ESA BIC Turin, the incubation program for innovative start-ups based on space technologies, with upstream or downstream applications, managed by I3P - the Innovative Companies Incubator of Politecnico di Torino - with the scientific and technological support of Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation.
How does it work
Before the event, enrolled individuals will enter existing teams. Also, there will be 2 or 3 webinars to introduce the participants to the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and tools to shape an idea into a business.
During the event, held in presence at the ASI headquarters in Rome, speakers from sponsor companies will showcase their achievements and give an overview of the current space economy landscape. On first day, teams will kick off their work and keep working until the afternoon of the second day, at the end of which there will be a pitch competition to present the idea in front of a jury of experts, who will then award the best start-up ideas. The business ideas may include new technologies, spin-in or spin-off, or space data applications.
Moreover, at the end of the first day there will be a networking event organized at Doria-Pamphilj palace in Trastevere (Rome).
Applications are now closed. In the opening period (20/12/23 - 31/01/2024) more than 120 participants from all over the world enrolled to join the competition. After a matching period for individuals, 25 teams will be formed and will compete for the available prizes.
The organizers
The Space Generation Advisory Council in Support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications is a global non-governmental, non-profit organisation and network which aims to connect and represent university students and young space professionals ages 18 – 35 to the United Nations, space agencies, industry, and academia.
SGAC focuses on five core pillars of activities to connect, grow and empower one global network of members across the world, and amplify its voice to the highest levels of government, space agencies, industry, academia and the United Nations. The Council's activities include:
to organise global, regional and local events that connect and foster the space community;
to offer scholarships and fellowships that enable access to the space sector for all;
to empower continued access to community, projects, and research initiatives through targeted project groups;
to develop and advocate policy positions that unite and represent the voice of the world’s youth;
to provide education & professional development opportunities for all our members.
Furthermore, SGAC particularly leverages its extensive network to focus on boosting the growth and development of underrepresented communities and countries in space.
