The winners of the first ever Global Space Awards were revealed in a glamorous ceremony hosted by physicist and author Brian Greene on Dec. 5, during which the family of Apollo and Gemini astronaut James Lovell accepted an award honoring the late explorer’s legacy.
“It’s incredibly exciting, it’s about time that there’s an awards focussed on the next and final frontier,” Greene told Space.com as the event got underway. “When the public is behind something, ultimately governments recognize that they need to fund it and so if people are excited about life in the universe, or the beginning of time, or the beginning of space, this is vital for the funding of basic research that fuels everything.”
Finalists for the Global Space Awards were revealed on a screen dangling from a high-altitude balloon floating 22 miles (37 kilometers) above the surface in Earth’s stratosphere weeks ahead of the event. The winners of each category were revealed during a gala dinner held at London’s Natural History Museum on the night of Dec. 5, with guests including the likes of British astronaut Tim Peake, members of the Lovell family and representatives from a myriad of aerospace companies, among many others.
The event culminated with the presentation of the inaugural James Lovell Legacy Award to the late astronaut’s family in recognition of his historic achievements in pioneering human spaceflight.
“My dad always had a saying, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ and [he] was all about satisfying mankind’s curiosity,” Jeffrey Lovell, the youngest son of astronaut James Lovell told Space.com on the red carpet. “He was at the right place at the right time, growing up and becoming a test pilot and eventually becoming an astronaut and he just wanted to take that career and exemplify what we can do as mankind. We can do so much if we really put our minds to it.”
In future years, the award will be bestowed upon individuals who honor the spirit of James Lovell, who, with Frank Borman and Bill Anders, was one of the first humans in history to orbit Earth’s moon, and witness its far side during the Apollo 8 mission.
The winners of the Global Space Awards 2025
Playmaker of the Year Award — Tahara Dawkins
Innovation Breakthrough Award — Skylo Technologies
Science Breakthrough Award — Beatriz Sánchez-Cano (M-MATISSE)
Partnership of the Year Award — Starlab Space
Sustainability for Earth Award — Space Forge
Sustainability for Space Award — Astroscale
Space Investor of the Year Award — Space Capital
SuperScaler of the Year Award — CubeSpace Satellite Systems
(Yahoo News)
