Save the Date: Back to school 2025-2026
With a new school year just around the corner, it's time to plan exciting activities and projects to carry out with your students. If you are looking for unique ways to enhance your STEM teaching while helping students build of a diverse range of skills and competences, we offer five exciting interdisciplinary school-level projects.
Coordinated by ESA with the national European Space Education Resource Offices (ESEROs) and other partners, the projects feature hands-on STEM activities tailored to various age groups and ability levels. While primarily aimed at use in the classroom, the projects are modular and adaptable to fit into both formal and informal learning environments, such as science museums, clubs, events, and after-school activities. Using space as a backdrop to explore real-life applications of science and technology, the projects aim to captivate and challenge learners, spark curiosity and empower students to develop critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. From physics to chemistry, biology to coding – there is something for every learner!
Stay tuned for more details on each school project coming up in September. Country-specific information will be available in the respective project and ESERO websites.
2025-2026 School Projects overview
| Project | Sub-category | Suggested for | Open to | Description | Registration opens | Registration closes |
| Astro Pi | Mission Zero | up to 19 years old (recommended for primary) | ESA Member States, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia | Write a simple computer program to take a reading using a sensor on one of the Astro Pi computers on board the International Space Station and display a personalised picture. | 8 September 2025 | 23 March 2026 |
| Mission Space Lab | up to 19 years old (recommended for secondary) | Write a computer program to calculate the speed that the International Space Station is travelling at. | 16 February 2026 | |||
| Moon Camp | - | up to 19 years old | Worldwide | Design a future space habitat for astronauts on the Moon or beyond. | 11 September 2025 | 27 July 2026 |
| CanSat | - | 14 to 19 years old | ESA Member States, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia | Design, build and launch a soda can-sized satellite. | 15 September 2025 - In some cases earlier: Check National Competition for dates | Depending on each National Competition |
| Climate Detectives | Climate Detectives | up to 19 years old | ESA Member States, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia | Investigate a local climate or environmental problem using Earth Observation data. | 17 September 2025 | 6 April 2026 |
| Climate Detectives Kids | up to 12 years old | Complete Earth Sciences related activities and collect badges. | 31 July 2026 | |||
| Mission X | - | up to 14 years old | Worldwide | Learn the key elements to keeping fit and staying healthy in space and on Earth. | 19 September 2025 | 14 August 2026 |
For a full timeline of each project visit the individual project websites.