Delegates celebrating together on the last day of the 2026 global finals

2026 Season record · ninth edition

Demeter —
a hub in the asteroid belt.

Ninety-eight international delegates from eight countries and regions joined a finals of more than three hundred students, and were asked to build Ploutos: a mining base on Psyche, a metal asteroid, for 150 residents and up to 50 visiting crew.

13–17 Aug 2026Beijing, China8 countries & regions6 virtual companies

See the 2025 record

Countries & regions on site

300⁺

Students on site

Virtual companies

Hours to design

The brief

Ploutos: mining a metal world.

Demeter is the goddess of the harvest; Ploutos, her son, is wealth. The 2026 season put both to work on Psyche — a nickel-iron asteroid in the belt, and a test case for mining a world that is metal rather than rock.

Companies were asked to design Ploutos, a large-scale mining base supporting 150 long-term residents and up to 50 visitors, and to answer for all of it: extraction, processing, habitation, transport, and a cost and schedule case that has to survive a jury.

Site: Psyche — a metal-rich asteroid in the main belt
Setting: 2110, deep-space resource development
Population: 150 long-term residents, up to 50 visitors
Scope: Extraction, processing, habitation, transport, business case

02 Final rankings

Six companies,
one contract.

Every company presented a full bid in English to an international jury. The champion is the company whose proposal was awarded the contract.

Champion

Galactic Pioneers

Awarded the contract at the 2026 global finals.

1st runners-up

Helio Energy · Lunar Express

Two companies tied for second place.

2nd runners-up

Artemis · Nebula Tech · Orbital Industry

Recognised for outstanding design proposals.

Qualifying round · global special awards

Best proposal

SPACE CRUSADERS

Russia

Systematic design

Lahore Grammar School 55 Main

Pakistan

Innovation design

Moonster

China

03 Five days in Beijing

From the floor.

Opening session, department briefings, the 24-hour sprint, the bid presentations, the jury, the closing.

Delegates sitting in a circle on the floor during a department briefing — Department briefing

Four students from different countries working together around laptops — Mixed-nationality teams

Two students reviewing drawings and notes at a work table — Working drawings

Three delegates discussing a design on screen — Cross-checking the model

A student presenting to the jury with a microphone — Bid presentation

A company presenting its proposal on stage — English defense

The international jury seated at the front of the hall — The international jury

Delegates celebrating together at the closing of the finals — Closing

GFSSM 2026 trophies and medals on display — Trophies and medals

Photographs from the 2026 global finals in Beijing.Full album (Alltuu) →

04 The film

Five days,
in motion.

The official record of the 2026 global finals, from the opening briefing to the final defence.

2026 film · watch Play the 2026 film

Global Finals · Beijing · August 2026 Watch on YouTube ↗

05 The companies

Six companies,
one contract.

Forty to fifty students each, drawn across countries, with their own president, departments and colours. Six filed a bid; one was awarded the contract.

The names change every year — they are chosen by the students who run them.