About

Competition runs fully online from October through February across three qualifying rounds and a semifinal, with teams working remotely from their home location. Each round presents a new space mission scenario with specific constraints; teams must identify optimal orbital parameters, select appropriate satellite components, and choose a launch vehicle and site that satisfies the mission requirements — all within a set time limit. No prior aerospace experience is required to register, and the competition provides an online textbook and curriculum to support preparation. The top 10 teams from the semifinal advance to the in-person National Finals, where they face a final mission — solving a complete space design problem in eight hours or fewer — followed by a quiz and a presentation of their findings to a panel of aerospace industry judges from organizations including Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, and United Launch Alliance.

The STK software requirement is the detail that most distinguishes StellarXplorers from other STEM competitions. STK is professional-grade mission analysis software used by working aerospace engineers; a student who has spent a full competition season solving orbital mechanics and satellite design problems in STK has hands-on experience with an industry-standard tool that most aerospace engineering undergraduates don't encounter until their junior year. For students seriously interested in aerospace engineering, space systems, or a career in the US Space Force or defense sector, national finalist status at StellarXplorers — reached by 10 teams from a national field — is a distinctive and field-specific credential that speaks directly to the discipline.

StellarXplorers is the right competition for a high school student with genuine interest in space systems, aerospace engineering, or satellite design — the learning curve is real, the software is professional-grade, and the students who reach the national finals have demonstrated technical problem-solving ability that very few pre-college programs can replicate.