The 2017 edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards launches with a brand new Facebook page!

The 2017 DStv Eutelsat Star Awards competition is back with a bang afterscooping a Better Satellite Award at the third annual Better Satellite World Awards gala dinner in London last night. The awards honour established companies along with disruptive innovators who make the world a more prosperous, healthier, better-educated, sustainable and inclusive home for humankind. Drawing on six years of success across thecontinent, the DStv Eutelsat Star Awardsis returning for a 7^th edition. Students from secondary (high) or combined schools can enter from today bywriting a creative essay or designing a poster based on the following topic:“It’s sixty years since the first satellite, Sputnik, was launched,broadcasting a unique and easily captured ‘beep, beep, beep’ signal. Looking back at this historic moment, write an essay or design a poster depicting how satellites have launched humankind into the 21^stCentury and acted as a unifier.”

Reach for the stars

The prizes of this innovative competition are as big as the dreams of a young, energised African generation ready to shape the evolution of our continent. Selected from thousands of entries by a high-standard jury, the essay winner will be eligible for a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two toParis, Francein the company of Eutelsat, and onwards to French Guiana to see a rocket launch into space. The poster winner will win a trip for two to South Africa which includes a visit to the South African National Space Agency as well as exploration of several heritage sites as guests of MultiChoice Africa. The schools attended by the two winners will also receive a DStv installation, including a dish, TV, decoder and free access to the DStv Education Package.

Open to learners with a passion for technology

The DStv Eutelsat Star Awardsare open to all learners from secondary (high) or combined schools on the continent where MultiChoice Africa maintains operations. Entry forms can be obtained from any MultiChoice Resource Centre, the nearest MultiChoice office or via www.dstvstarawards.com. Entries are accepted in English, French and Portuguese and will be judged on the basis of high-standard criteria of accuracy, creativity, originality and innovation.For the first time this year students are also invited to engage with the Awards community through a dedicated Facebook page.

The competition closes on 12 February 2018. Only entries submitted on the official entry form will be eligible. The overall winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in March 2018.

All details on the judging criteria, national prizes and finalists’ selection are available on the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards website: http://www.dstvstarawards.com/about.html

Supporting Africa’s education needs

MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat are convinced of the power of science and technology education to encourage young mindstopositively change their world. Now in its 7^th year, their joint initiative, the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards,inspire innovative thinking among a young African generation.This pan-African collaboration has created a meaningful engagement with students, the academic community and the scientific world. Since the start of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards in 2011, over 6,000 students have taken part in this unique competition.