Guidance

Active Debris Removal Naming Competition - Terms and Conditions

Published 15 October 2026

1. The Promoter

1.1. The promoter is the UK Space Agency of 1st Floor, Quad Two Building, Rutherford Avenue, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DF.

2. The competition

2.1. The title of the competition is “Name the UK Active Debris Removal Mission”.

2.2. To enter the competition, suggest a name for the Active Debris Removal Mission and an explanation of why you think it should be the name of the mission.

2.3. The name

• The name can be maximum two words or an acronym.

• The name must not have been used for a past, current or proposed space mission, or a component part of a space mission.

• The name must not infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, including trademarks.

• Avoid

  • Military-themed names.
  • Commercial brands.
  • Existing spacecraft names.
  • Potentially offensive or controversial names.

2.4. The explanation must be no more than 150 words in length.

3. How to enter

3.1. The competition will run from 09:30am BST on 15th October 2026 (the “Opening Date”) to 17:00pm GMT on 10th December 2026 (the “Closing Date”) inclusive.

3.2. All competition entries must be received by the Promoter by no later than 17:00 GMT on the Closing Date.

3.3. The Promoter reserves the right to extend the deadline.

3.4. All competition entries received after the Closing Date are automatically disqualified.

3.5. Enter the competition online by submitting the online entry form provided on the UK Space Agency Website by Closing Date.

3.6. Entrants may use tools to help develop ideas, but the submission must be their own original concept and must not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

3.7. By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.

4. The Promoter will not accept:

a) responsibility for competition entries that are lost,

b) network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind.

5. Judging the entries

5.1. The UK Space Agency will appoint a judging panel. That panel will select a winning name from all the names submitted. The decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final.

5.2. The final mission’s name remains subject to approval by the UK Space Agency and partner supplier and may differ from the submitted entry selected as the winner.

5.3. UKSA retains the right not to select a public entry if:

• 5.3.1. The name fails legal checks.

• 5.3.2.Trademark issues arise.

• 5.3.3. The name creates programme risk.

5.4. Where multiple eligible entrants submit the winning name, the winner will be determined by a random draw from all eligible entries that proposed that name. The draw will be conducted using a randomised selection process by the Promoter and witnessed by a representative of the UK Space Agency. The selected entrant will be deemed the winner of the competition. The Promoter’s decision is final.

6. Eligibility

6.1. The competition is only open to UK residents.

6.2. In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim the prize.

6.3. There is a limit of one entry per person.

6.4. Schools and/or school classes can submit a joint entry.

6.5. For a person under 18 or a school or class, entries must be submitted by a parent or teacher.

6.6. The Promoter reserves all rights to disqualify an entry if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the prize competition.

7. The prize

7.1. The prize is for the person, class or school who chose the name.

7.2. There is no cash alternative for the prize.

7.3. The prize is not negotiable or transferable.

8. Winner announcement

8.1. The decision of the judging panel nominated by the Promoter is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.

8.2. The Promoter will contact the winner personally as soon as practicable, using the email address provided with the competition entry.

8.3. The Promoter will not amend any contact information once the competition entry form has been submitted.

8.4. The Winners name may be published on the UK Space Agency website from the Announcement Date for a period of at least 30 days.

9. Claiming the prize

9.1. The prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf.

9.2. The Promoter will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winner.

9.3. If the winner cannot be reached the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the correct entries that were received before the Closing Date.

9.4. The Promoter does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize.

10. Limitation of liability

10.1. In so far as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected.

11. Ownership of competition entries and intellectual property rights

11.1. All competition entries and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt and will not be returned.

11.2. By submitting your competition entry and any accompanying material, you agree to:

• a. assign to the Promoter all your intellectual property rights with full title guarantee; and waive all moral rights, in and to your competition entry and otherwise arising in connection with your entry to which you may now or at any time in the future be entitled under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended from time to time and under all similar legislation from time to time in force anywhere in the world.

• b. You agree that the Promoter may, but is not required to, make your entry available on the UK Space Agency Website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the competition. You agree to grant the Promoter a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in the competition entry, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the competition entry for such purposes.

12. Data protection and publicity

12.1. By stating your agreement to, the applicant gives permission to the UK Space Agency and its stakeholders to publish the entrants name and age category and gives the UK Space agency all the rights to use the winning name for the purposes outlined in this document and for purposes related to UK Space Agency communications.

12.2. Any personal data (information about yourself) that you provide to us for the purpose of entering this competition will be stored and processed securely within UK-based systems. It will only be used by UK Space Agency employees who are involved in facilitating this competition and it will be destroyed within three months of the winners being announced.

12.3. Your information may be shared with a third party supporting the communications and marketing.

12.4. Further information and contact details can be found within the Competition’s Privacy Notice. Your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 are not affected.

13. Safeguarding

13.1. If we see anything in an entry which could be a potential safeguarding concern, we will contact you.

14. General

14.1. If there is any reason to believe that you are in breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition.

14.2. The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the prize competition where it becomes necessary to do so.

14.3. These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and the parties submit to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.