London, UK – 23 July 2025 — The UK-based not-for-profit company Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is delighted to reveal the winners of the Project Hyperion Design Competition, a landmark global challenge that called upon interdisciplinary teams to envision a generation ship—a crewed interstellar spacecraft designed for a 250-year journey to a habitable planet. The teams designed habitats of such a spacecraft that would allow a society to sustain itself and flourish in a highly resource-constrained environment.
The Project Hyperion Design Competition required architectural designers, engineers, and social scientists to collaborate and address critical mission aspects that enable a spacecraft to function as a closed society over centuries. The collaboration between different disciplines is key to finding holistic solutions that do justice to the complexity of the requirements, in order to provide:
- Habitability for 1,000 ± 500 people over centuries
- Artificial gravity via rotation
- A society that ensures good living conditions, including essential provisions such as shelter, clothing, and other basic needs.
- Robust life support systems for food, water, waste, and the atmosphere
- Knowledge transfer mechanisms to retain culture and technologies
More details about the competition requirements can be found here.
Results
Winners were selected if they were able to integrate the various design aspects (architecture, engineering, social sciences) coherently and their general depth of detail, among other criteria.
- First Place: Chrysalis – Impressed the jury with its system-level coherence and innovative design of the modular habitat structure but also overall depth of detail, for example, mission preparation and manufacturing. (Link to submission)
- Second Place: WFP Extreme – For its overall consistency and particularly in cultural and societal ideas, for example, clothing and spiritual places. (Link to submission)
- Third Place: Systema Stellare Proximum - Great, immersive storytelling connected with potential social, technical and cultural implications. (Link to submission)
Honorable Mentions
Ten teams received Honorable Mentions for excelling in specific, thought-provoking aspects of their submissions that will advance the state of the art. (Listed in alphabetical order):
- Arkkana – Excellence in considering the temporal dimension and evolving roles of the population over time.
- EBS: Endless Beyond the Stars – Innovative "negotiopolis" concept that bridges architecture and social organization.
- F.A.O.C first asteroid O'Neill colony – Original architectural vision of integrating the habitat into an asteroid.
- HELIOS ARK – A holistic approach and strong system-level coherence.
- Orion – A thoughtful, low-tech design emphasizing knowledge and technology transfer.
- Principium Hereditatis – A compelling narrative structure and a symbolically rich modular habitat.
- STASS Associazione Professionale – Standout in knowledge transfer, immersive storytelling, and humanistic depth.
- The Belgian Space Hikers – A highly creative take on the social dimension of space living.
- undagila – A deeply poetic, culturally immersive vision with emphasis on intergenerational continuity, ritual, and symbolic heritage.
- WeSpace – A cleanly presented, holistic design that balanced aesthetics with conceptual depth, including bio-inspiration and human-centric design.
2. Competition Highlights
- Timeline & Process: Launched 1 November 2024, submissions were accepted through a two-phase competition. Phase 1 (concept development, due 9 Mar): 50 teams participated and 23 semi-finalists were selected. Phase 2 (detailed design, due 20 May) culminated in the winners’ unveiling on 23 July.
- Prizes: A total prize pool of $10,000 USD ($5,000 / $3,000 / $2,000).
- Team Requirements: Entries had to include at least one architectural designer, one engineer, and one social scientist.
- A jury of internationally renown experts, covering architecture, engineering, and social sciences was invited to evaluate the submissions, including A. Scott Howe (NASA-JPL), Olga Bannova (University of Houston), Madhu Thangavelu (University of Southern California), Elena Rochi (Arizona State University).
Institutional Support
Project Hyperion, founded in 2011, has built a track record of generation ship research. Notable work includes generation ship designs, population size, and knowledge transfer. Results were presented at ESA’s Interstellar Workshop and in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Acta Astronautica and Acta Futura.
The i4is core team boasts multidisciplinary expertise—architecture, aerospace, anthropology, urban planning—and includes Andreas Hein, Yazgı Demirbaş Pech, Dan Fries, Cameron Smith, Michel Lamontagne, and Claas Olthoff, who have experience working at institutions such as NASA, ESA, and MIT, reinforcing its credibility and global vision.
Organizers’ Statement
“Project Hyperion wasn’t just a design contest—it is part of a larger exercise to explore if humanity can travel to the stars one day. It envisions how a civilization might live, learn, and evolve in a highly resource-constrained environment, and may also provide valuable insights into our future on Earth.” said Dr. Andreas Hein, i4is Executive Director.
“We asked participants to integrate architecture, technology, and social systems to conceptualize a functional society spanning centuries—and the outcome was beyond expectations.”
What’s Next
Winning entries will be published and showcased at future i4is and academic events. A closing ceremony is planned in 2025/2026 whereby winners will present their work. In parallel, we will draw inspiration from the various designs and start working on a detailed design of a generation ship to make further progress towards demonstrating the feasibility of the concept.
More under: https://www.projecthyperion.org
