Teams of primary school students representing schools from several states and territories in Australia came together at the Australian Space Discovery Centre to compete in the Andy Thomas Space Foundation’s Kids in Space finals and showcase their winning space-inspired designs.
The Andy Thomas Space Foundation’s Kids in Space is an Australia-first, national education program that engages students in exciting, space-themed STEM learning and design thinking, supported by the Australian Space Agency and delivered by Makers Empire. With around 6,000+ primary and middle school students, 82 schools and 184 teachers across Australia impacted in 2025, it introduces students to space technology and promotes awareness of job opportunities in the space industry.
The 82 schools comprised of government, independent and Catholic schools. 77% of schools are located in regional, rural and remote areas, and 54% of schools are schools with a value below 1000 on the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA).
The 2025 Kids in Space schools were awarded a package worth $6,999 including professional development and training for teachers, Makers Empire 3D design tools and resources, access to a custom, space-themed Challenge Course in the Makers Empire 3D app, a 3D printer and filament, and state/territory student showcase events.
Kids in Space 2025 began with professional development days for teachers. Students then completed the space-themed challenge course and worked on their responses to the design thinking challenge: design something that might help astronauts to work and live in space or use space technologies to design something that will help solve a problem on Earth.
State Showcases then took place in schools across multiple Australian states/territories. Winners from these local state/territory finals were then chosen by judges to compete in the Kids in Space Finals in Adelaide at the Australian Space Discovery Centre.
In November, the Australian Space Discovery Centre (ASDC) was buzzing wth excitement as students and teachers and invited industry guests arrived for the Kids in Space National Finals. The students had visited the ASDC the night before for a welcome pizza party and fun educational activities to break the ice and introduce them to their peers from all over Australia.
During an energetic expo-style showcase, students shared their winning designs with each other and pitched them to the judges:
The judges had the challenging task of choosing a national winner from all of the schools present.
Students were also visited by space industry guests, who later voted on their top three projects. Students also completed a space discovery trail and explored the ASDC’s exhibits.
Throughout the showcase, students, teachers and invited guests heard from:
The speakers shared their own experiences of working in space, the skills and experiences needed to work in space.
They congratulated the teachers and students on their state and territory winning projects, and emphasised that everyone in the room was a winner.
The winners were then announced and students were presented with certificates.
Despite all of the teams having incredible designs on display at the finals, only one team could be crowned the winner. The Kids in Space National Winner, National Runners-up and the Industry Award Winners for 2025 are below.
Team Queensland, Palmwoods State School.
The QLD team created a space junk collector to recycle space junk to increase space sustainability. Their design works by capturing debris in a net and bringing them back to Earth for sorting and recycling.
Team Victoria, Mount Beauty Primary School
The VIC team designed a pollution-cleaning rover for the ocean.
Directed by space satellites, it uses GPS to locate debris and pollution in the ocean, and then deposits it into boats that take the rubbish to a designated Ocean Clean-up Port. From here the rubbish is transported to an incinerator where the waste is converted into fuel.
Team Northern Territory, Sattler Christian College
In order to combat pollution, the students from team NT designed three robots with different abilities to clean up pollution and rubbish.
Skybot flies and identifies areas to clean, then communicates to Mud Bot and Robbish who collect rubbish and sort it for recycling.
It incorporates current space tehcnologies including rocketry, GPS, satellite communication and radio.
You can see the winning Kids in Space 2025 teams from each participating state and territory here.
Kids in Space will return in 2026. Expressions of interest have now closed.
Kids in Space is able to engage primary school students with exciting space learning thanks to the incredible help of sponsors.
We are always interested in bringing on board partners or supporters so more schools can be part of this Australia-first program! Please get in contact with us if this is something your organisation is interested in.
