Who are we?

In 1998, Christopher Barber founded the International Space School Educational Trust, a UK registered charity. Through the Trust, Chris set about his mission to use space exploration and the people behind it to motivate students from all backgrounds to realise their potential, grow their confidence and help them achieve their dreams, in whichever field they choose.

ISSET Training Ltd, trading as ISSET, is the commercial arm of the Trust that manages the Trusts different programmes and handles direct-to-consumer sales and business-to-business sales, internationally.

For over 20 years, in partnership with some of the world’s leading organisations, the Trust and ISSET have led the way in space and STEM education for all. The Trust runs sponsored programmes for students who may not otherwise be afforded these opportunities. We work closely with education ministries and local governments to ensure we accommodate students who are best in need of these experiences.

The Trust founded the Mission Discovery event series, Launch Prize virtual competitions and the Space to Learn classroom experiences.

Sponsors

Your Sponsorship

Humankind is often the source of creating problems, and then having to fix them. We want to be a source of good, looking to fix problems. We do this by serving as a laboratory of ideas, inspiring and motivating our participants to live as global citizens free of hate and intolerance. Using space exploration, the people behind it and their ‘orbital perspective’ to teach students the importance of unity, cooperation, and development. All while developing their soft skills and their drive to become more.

Your sponsorship will give young people the incredible opportunity to attend one of our ‘out of this world’ STEM events, that are proven to change how a young person envisions their future.

Through ISSET’s programmes, participants sponsored by you will have an increased self-belief, heightened confidence, and newfound knowledge that through hard work and commitment they can achieve anything.

We don’t just attract the best and the brightest, but also students who may be heading down the wrong path or need a positive steer in the right direction.

Attaching your company to this prestigious event will build your relationship with the young community and beyond, showing the local region and the world that you’re invested in their children’s future.

Don't just take our word for it...

Where Are They Now

European Business Development & Partnerships Officer - iSpace inc.

ISSET’s Mission Discovery was the first time I really felt I had found ‘my tribe’ - space industry legends and driven peers that shared the same energy and craved the same dream as I did. It still is surreal seeing astronauts on TV that I casually got to hang out with for a week as a teenager!

As a 15 year old who had always been a space geek – I had all the ambition and passion in the universe, but no idea what to do with it. Being able to collaborate with such inspiring mentors, who really took the time to listen, help and guide me was an inflection point in my life and very soon after the programme, I knew what I wanted to study and more importantly, why.

I am still in contact with some of the mentors today, over a decade later, and having that support and backing has truly been invaluable. I credit a lot of the opportunities I’ve been fortunate to receive as a result of Mission Discovery and the relationships it helped me to build.

I’ll soon be joining ispace inc. as a European Business Development and Partnerships Officer, selling capacity on lunar landers and rovers which will be launching to the Moon from 2022 onwards. Mission Discovery did exactly what it promised to do – help me discover my mission.

European Business Development & Partnerships Officer, ispace inc.

ISSET’s Mission Discovery was the first time I really felt I had found ‘my tribe’ - space industry legends and driven peers that shared the same energy and craved the same dream as I did. It still is surreal seeing astronauts on TV that I casually got to hang out with for a week as a teenager!

As a 15 year old who had always been a space geek – I had all the ambition and passion in the universe, but no idea what to do with it. Being able to collaborate with such inspiring mentors, who really took the time to listen, help and guide me was an inflection point in my life and very soon after the programme, I knew what I wanted to study and more importantly, why.

I am still in contact with some of the mentors today, over a decade later, and having that support and backing has truly been invaluable. I credit a lot of the opportunities I’ve been fortunate to receive as a result of Mission Discovery and the relationships it helped me to build.

I’ll soon be joining ispace inc. as a European Business Development and Partnerships Officer, selling capacity on lunar landers and rovers which will be launching to the Moon from 2022 onwards. Mission Discovery did exactly what it promised to do – help me discover my mission.

Vice President - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

I spent my life growing up in an inner-city working-class neighbourhood. Growing up, it was very easy to think you were limited by what you saw happening around you.

ISSET and I crossed paths in 2005, when Chris Barber and his team, helped encourage the idea that with hard work and perseverance, there was no limit to what I could achieve.

Being able to talk to people who had made the impossible, possible, and realise that some of their backgrounds and upbringing were not dissimilar to what I was going through, combined with their encouragement and life experience helped improve my confidence and determination.

Sixteen years later, I still think upon the activities that ISSET organised with fondness. ISSET gave an ordinary boy from an ordinary family access to role models, activities, and a world I thought I couldn't reach.

Vice President - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

I spent my life growing up in an inner-city working-class neighbourhood. Growing up, it was very easy to think you were limited by what you saw happening around you.

ISSET and I crossed paths in 2005, when Chris Barber and his team, helped encourage the idea that with hard work and perseverance, there was no limit to what I could achieve.

Being able to talk to people who had made the impossible, possible, and realise that some of their backgrounds and upbringing were not dissimilar to what I was going through, combined with their encouragement and life experience helped improve my confidence and determination.

Sixteen years later, I still think upon the activities that ISSET organised with fondness. ISSET gave an ordinary boy from an ordinary family access to role models, activities, and a world I thought I couldn't reach.

Operations & Events Coordinator – World Energy Council

I joined the Mission Discovery course in summer 2013 at Kings College with the incredible Ken Ham, and all I can say, is that it truly changed the course of my life! Prior to the course, I was due to take an international business course at university, something I was good at, but was not passionate about at all. On the third day of my course (once I felt brave enough to approach Ken!), I told Ken about my reservations about the business course and he very simply told me “Follow your heart, because you’re going to spend the next 3 years studying just that!” so there and then, I switched to a science degree. Just 3 years later I graduated with a bachelors in Earth and Environmental science and now I currently working for an incredible NGO that conducts research on energy usage, renewable and non-renewable sources alike and has a vision to ‘humanise’ the energy industry, making it accessible to all.

Operations & Events Coordinator – World Energy Council

I joined the Mission Discovery course in summer 2013 at Kings College with the incredible Ken Ham, and all I can say, is that it truly changed the course of my life! Prior to the course, I was due to take an international business course at university, something I was good at, but was not passionate about at all. On the third day of my course (once I felt brave enough to approach Ken!), I told Ken about my reservations about the business course and he very simply told me “Follow your heart, because you’re going to spend the next 3 years studying just that!” so there and then, I switched to a science degree. Just 3 years later I graduated with a bachelors in Earth and Environmental science and now I currently working for an incredible NGO that conducts research on energy usage, renewable and non-renewable sources alike and has a vision to ‘humanise’ the energy industry, making it accessible to all.

Operations Team Lead - Skyrora

“Mission Discovery was completely instrumental in fuelling my passion for STEM and turning that into a career in the Space industry. I attended Mission Discovery 2014 in Renfrewshire, Scotland and was unfortunately not part of the winning team, however the experience had inspired and driven me to be totally set on a career in STEM. I set up Stratonauts, a near-space marketing launch company, and I am now responsible for Test site and launch operations at Skyrora, a launch vehicle development company in Scotland. Having just one degree change in your outlook, in the transformative years of your life, leads to a massive impact in the trajectory of your future, and ISSET are the perfect incubator for that.”

Operations Team Lead - Skyrora

“Mission Discovery was completely instrumental in fuelling my passion for STEM and turning that into a career in the Space industry. I attended Mission Discovery 2014 in Renfrewshire, Scotland and was unfortunately not part of the winning team, however the experience had inspired and driven me to be totally set on a career in STEM. I set up Stratonauts, a near-space marketing launch company, and I am now responsible for Test site and launch operations at Skyrora, a launch vehicle development company in Scotland. Having just one degree change in your outlook in the transformative years of your life leads to a massive impact in the trajectory of your future life, and Mission Discovery is the perfect incubator for that.”

Biomedical Researcher – Bath University

Mission Discovery gave me the chance to work with many extremely talented and motivated individuals. As someone who previously had great anxiety about group work, Mission Discovery greatly increased my confidence in my teamwork ability and helped me immensely to overcome my anxiety. I appreciated the relaxed environment and was immediately made to feel at home by my teammates and mentors. I found the work challenging, but it was incredibly rewarding. I believe that ISSET have played a pivotal role for me, in achieving my position as a life sciences research trainee in France in the 2019-20 academic year, pushing me towards a career in biomedical research.

Biomedical Researcher – Bath University

Mission Discovery gave me the chance to work with many extremely talented and motivated individuals. As someone who previously had great anxiety about group work, Mission Discovery greatly increased my confidence in my teamwork ability and helped me immensely to overcome my anxiety. I appreciated the relaxed environment and was immediately made to feel at home by my teammates and mentors. I found the work challenging, but it was incredibly rewarding. I believe that ISSET have played a pivotal role for me, in achieving my position as a life sciences research trainee in France in the 2019-20 academic year, pushing me towards a career in biomedical research.

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