Space Harvest Ideathon: Registration Now Open!

SSAF is a program that provides students and young researchers in the Asia-Pacific region with opportunities to learn about space environment utilization and space experiments using plants as a research subject.

SSAF has been held three times to date: in 2010-2011, 2013, and 2020-2021 (under the name Asian Herb in Space: AHiS). Space agencies and educational institutions across the Asia-Pacific region have cooperated to provide many students and young researchers with opportunities to learn about space experiments and research on space environment utilization.

In the Space Harvest Ideathon, we are seeking ideas in the following two categories related to space food production, which will be essential for future human space exploration.

We are seeking ideas for plant species that contribute to nutritional management and quality of life (QoL) during space missions.
For details, please refer to the Recruitment Details below.

We are seeking ideas on plants, cultivation methods, and growing environments suitable for harsh space and extraterrestrial environments, including the ISS, the Moon, Mars, and other spacecraft. Participants may choose any target environment and will conduct ground-based experiments based on their proposals to verify their feasibility.
For details, please refer to the Recruitment Details below.

Each submitted proposal from each country/region will be evaluated by experts of their respective space agencies or local organizers. Outstanding proposals from each country or region will be recommended to JAXA based on the evaluation criteria established by the respective responsible agency or local organizer.

Students whose proposals are recommended to JAXA will present their ideas in English during the Wrap-Up Session. Participants selected from the "How to Grow" category will additionally report the results of their ground-based experiments.

Through this program, participants will learn about food production and life support systems in future space exploration, while also developing scientific thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and an international collaboration perspective. Furthermore, themes recommended for the Wrap-Up session might become candidate ideas for future space experiments.

Those wishing to apply should review the application guidelines for their respective countries/region and submit their applications through the designated application form.
We look forward to receiving your applications.