Base 11 Announces $1 Million+ Student Space Challenge

    COMPTON, CA, June 06, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Leaders in aerospace, government, and academia joined students from around the U.S. and Canada today to announce the largest-ever student space competition: the Base 11 Space Challenge. Created to provide hands-on skills training and to increase minority participation in aerospace-related industries, the challenge will award $1 million+ to the first student-led university team to design, build and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to an altitude of 100 km (the Karman Line edge of space) by December 30, 2021. Competitions will be held at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

The announcement event was held at Tomorrow's Aerospace Museum (TAM), to emphasize the rewards of supporting high-potential, under-resourced youth in STEM-related programs and the aerospace community. TAM is a living classroom bringing aerospace history to life to empower the dreams of youth to take flight.

"Space exploration is the new economic frontier and should be open to all - not just big business, government and the ultra-rich," said Landon Taylor, CEO, Base 11, and founder of the student competition "That's why we're leveling the playing field by partnering with industry, academia, government and philanthropy to empower high-potential low-resource students across the country with the mindset, skills, and resources they need to stake their claim on what is forecasted to become a $2.7 trillion industry in the next 30 years."

Dassault Systèmes, "The 3DEXPERIENCE Company" is a top-tier Space Challenge sponsor and is providing the student teams with licenses and training on their industry leading 3D engineering design platform which is used by the aerospace companies in the world. Al Bunshaft, SVP and president of the company's US Foundation spoke at the announcement: "Industry requires people with not only technical skills, but those who also know how to work in diverse and distributed teams, tackle interdisciplinary problems, and innovate to find new approaches to critical challenges. The Base 11 Space Challenge offers young people the chance to use and develop these skills while jumping into the 21st century space race."

Visionary leaders from aerospace, government and academia, spoke at the announceent, provided strong support for the Base 11 Space Challenge:

Dr. Peter Diamandis, Founder, XPRIZE, Zero Gravity Corp, Space Adventures, SEDS and ISU: "I'm so excited to see what maverick thinkers, rebels, scientists and engineers will come into this competition to build super efficient, capable liquid rocket propulsion. The million dollars is just the beginning...more importantly it is about creativity in changing the world and opening up the space frontier."

Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz, First U.S. Immigrant Astronaut, and Founder,CEO, Ad Astra Rocket Company, reminded the students at the Announcement that knowledge and experience are the best prizes anyone could ask for, saying: "This $1million dollar space challenge is an amazing way to infuse the younger generation with that Apollo days nostalgia that motivated an entire country – and really the whole world—to push themselves to explore the unknown, create the unheard of, and accomplish the impossible."

Michelle Murray, Sr. Advisor for commercial Space Transportation, FAA: "My team at the FAA was very excited to learn about this university challenge and its dual goals of education and skills training. Our role at the FAA will be to reinforce the importance of compliance with safety requirements - key elements that students will need for their future roles as leaders of industry."

Leland Melvin, former NASA Astronaut, former head of NASA Office of Education, and Author: "As a space explorer, I'm so excited to be present for this exciting Base 11 announcement that will help inspire our next generation of explorers. I can't wait to hear 3-2-1 liftoff and watch a student built rocket head to the Cosmos. Godspeed Base 11 on this epic journey."

Dr. Forouzan Golshani, Dean, College of Engineering, Cal State Long Beach: "The challenge by Base 11 is a welcome opportunity for universities to ignite their students' interest in pushing the frontiers of academic research in space. With their emphasis on an inclusive pipeline, Base 11 is puts the spotlight on the diversity of the STEM workforce, especially Aerospace Engineering."

About the Competition
In addition to the $1 million prize for being the first team to successfully launch to the edge of space, Base 11 will host and award other milestone prizes during the competition for excellence in design, safety, testing, diversity and inclusion outreach, and entrepreneurial innovation. Student participants will develop skills and real world experience in industry level safety protocols, systems engineering, propulsion, electronics, bench testing, computer aided design (CAD), navigation, flight regulation, diversity and inclusion, business development, teamwork, and innovation. The first $50,000 milestone prize will be awarded during the May 2019 Base 11 Aerospace Symposium & Expo for the best engineering design, safety plan, and outreach strategy.

Registration opens June 6, 2018. University teams that have declared their intent to participate include: Purdue University; University of Southern California (USC); UC Irvine; UC Berkeley; UC San Diego; Cal State University, Long Beach and from Canada: University of Toronto, University of Victoria, University of Concordia, and McGill University. Students from these universities will be represented at the live event and press conference. Videos from these participants can be found on the Base 11 Challenge website: www.base11spacechallenge.org

The Base 11 Space Challenge will run on the HEROX crowdsourcing platform, a spinoff of the XPRIZE Foundation. To enter, students must join a U.S. or Canadian university team that is registered in the competition. All rules and guidelines are on the entry form. To qualify to enter a team, students must show that they are enrolled in school, submit a bio and the application will be reviewed by the Dean overseeing the university team. Each university team is required to have the proper insurance and will adhere to the safety rules, provided by Base 11 and the university.

About Base 11
Base 11 is a nonprofit workforce development accelerator focused on solving the STEM talent pipeline crisis being fueled by the underrepresentation of women and minorities. Base 11 facilitates partnerships with industry, academia and philanthropy which deliver to employers a pre-recruitment pipeline of well-trained, highly skilled STEM talent. By establishing Innovation Centers integrated with hands-on project based learning and STEM entrepreneurship training, Base 11 and its partners set students on direct pathways to four-year STEM degrees, well paid STEM jobs, and the opportunity to launch their own STEM related business. For more information, please visit www.Base11.com. Base 11 is a DBA of the Center for Innovations in Education, and as such a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization.

Media Contact: Diane Murphy ([email protected]); Tel: +1.310.658.8756

Videos and Photos can be downloaded from the Base 11 Space Challenge website: www.base11spacechallenge.org

Join us at #B11SpaceChallenge and YouTube

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