Fall 2026 Space Teams University - Escape from Phobos - Rules & Info

[connorjak]

If there is conflicting info about the competition somewhere else, this page is the authoritative source.

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Changelog:

• 2026/09/16 Newly created.
• 2026/10/14 Full update with latest info.
• 2026/10/16 Signup and webcast dates/times changed.

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Rules & Info (Here)	Competitor Starter Code	Forum

COMPETITION

Scenario

A mining base on the surface of the Martian moon Phobos has been struck by an asteroid. As a competitor, your mission is to pilot a small shuttle to transport the remaining mining crew from the surface to an orbiting Earth-return spacecraft. The only problem: the asteroid impact kicked up a dense debris field near the mining base, and with the low gravity of Phobos there are rocks and debris everywhere. Your task is to design an autonomous controller to help your shuttle navigate through the debris field and reach safety as quickly as possible.

Important Dates

• Oct. 19 5pm Central - Webcast Kickoff
• Oct. 21 11:59pm Central - Signup Deadline
• Nov. 4 - Finals Qualification Submission
• Nov. 20 - Final Submission
• TBA - Winners Announced

Team Registration

See https://www.space-teams.com/university

WHAT COMPETITORS DO

You will program your controller using the Python API within Space Teams PRO. To help your controller respond to the dynamic environment, you will use data from an on-board radar, as well as RGB and depth images from two controllable cameras on your shuttle. You will also have estimated spacecraft position and attitude states provided by the simulation. Your task is to observe the debris field, predict and minimize collisions, and optimize your trajectory while controlling your spacecraft. Your score will be based on the time and fuel it takes to reach the interplanetary spacecraft, but watch out: a single stray asteroid could end your mission early.

The simulation is provided, along with starter code that shows example usage of functions to send thruster commands and retrieve sensor data from the radar and cameras. Competitors will extend the starter code with their own obstacle avoidance and 3D path-planning algorithms, and any auxiliary functions needed to achieve the goal.

Solution Submissions

Competitors will record the simulation running with their control code running on their own computer. The final submission requires two consecutive runs of the simulation, using the same solution code, recorded in the same video. The score from the two runs will be averaged to get the final solution. This is a measure to avoid a sub-par solution getting lucky 1 in 100 times and having a great score. Issues like a program crash, failure to start the sim, etc are ok to discard between consecutive runs as long as the video doesn't stop rolling while the issue is resolved.

Competitors can attempt the sim as many times as they want to get a better score. Competitors can update their team's submission as many times as they like before the submission deadline.

The finals qualification submission is required to be eligible to win a prize in this competition. This is a "completion grade" sort of submission, meant to ensure that your team is familiar with the competition submission process and won't need to figure it out right before the final submission deadline. It also helps us find issues with enough time to address them before the competition ends.

Included in submissions:

• (Final submission only) Claimed time, fuel, and damage
• Screen-recorded video of the full simulation (1080p 30fps recommended)
• Simulation logs
  • Copy the matching sim-run folders in /AppData/Local/SimDynamX/STPro/Logs into a .zip file
• Full set of competitor-written Python source code and altered user System configuration inside the sim config, if any.
  • As a GitHub repository
• (Final submission only) Additional written information about your team's solution

The submission is a claim of a certain score. The competition organizers will validate top scores for consideration in the leaderboard.

Submission Links:

• Finals Qualification: TBA
• Final: TBA

COMPETITOR SETUP

1. Ensure you have access to a computer that meets the Minimum Spec from our System Requirements page.
2. Install the latest version of Space Teams PRO on Windows, following our instructions here.
   • Competitors will be provided with Space Teams licenses for the duration of the competition. Activate your free trial on spaceteamspro.com after signing in, or reach out to support@SimDynamX.com if you have already activated a trial before or otherwise can't access the trial.
3. Do the Cloning a Repo steps to download the competition sim files in Space Teams PRO.
   • Do this for each of these HTTPS Clone URLs:

     https://github.com/SimDynamX/STU4-Sim.git
     https://github.com/SimDynamX/STU4-Solution.git
     

4. Do the quick start instructions with the starter code in STU4-Solution wiki.

COMPETITION RULES

1. Submissions must be made by 11:59pm Central Time on the due dates.
   • Note that Daylight Savings Time ends November 2nd. This will affect how this time converts to your time zone.
2. Do not attempt to work around competition logic to give your team an advantage. Examples:
   • Do not modify the simulation used for scoring.
   • Do not change timescale of the simulation. This subtly alters the physics behavior.

WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION

• Starter Code, API documentation specific to this competition
  • Competitor Starter Code wiki
  • Competitor Starter Code repo
• General STPRO documentation
  • STPRO Wiki
• All questions about the competition, installing Space Teams PRO, the starter code setup, etc.
  • Find a post on the Forum or make a new one to ask your question.
• Ask a question that should be private or is related to programmatic things such as team registration
  • Email us at support@SimDynamX.com

[connorjak]

Team registration link added: https://www.space-teams.com/university

[connorjak]

New signup deadline and webcast kickoff dates/times.

Oct. 19 5pm Central - Webcast Kickoff
Oct. 20 11:59pm Central - Signup Deadline

[connorjak]

One more day added to signup deadline