No-Name Mission Contest: Terms and Conditions

1 Scope 

This document is issued by the European Space Agency, an international intergovernmental organisation established by its Convention, opened for signature in Paris on 30 May 1975 and entered into force on 30 October 1980, having its headquarters at 24 Rue due Général Bertrand, 75007 Paris, France, represented by its Director General, (hereinafter “ESA” or “the Agency”), to set forth the Terms and Conditions applicable to the participation in ESA’s “NO-NAME MISSION CONTEST”(hereinafter “the Contest”).

The eligible participant (hereinafter “the Participant”) willing to take part in the Contest is requested to carefully read these Terms and Conditions and make sure to act in compliance with them as set forth below. 

By proposing a name, the Participant expressly accepts that its application, selection and participation to the Contest shall be subject to, and governed by, these Terms and Conditions, which shall be legally binding for the Participant.

2 The Contest 

2.1 The title of the Contest is “NO-NAME MISSION CONTEST”. 

2.2 Criteria for the mission name:

• Reflect the mission’s aims and goals
• Not reuse/repeat a past, current or proposed space mission, whether from ESA or another space agency 
• Not infringe on any copyright or trademark
• Not be a proper noun (e.g. ‘Bondi Beach’ ‘Sunday’ ‘Ville des Lumières’)
• Widely known proper names with universal appeal (e.g. mythological names ‘Mercury’ ‘Sol’) are OK
• Name must be maximum three words, no special symbols

2.3 The accompanying explanation for the proposed name must in length not exceed the space provided for in the Contest online entry form.

2.4 Proposing a name to ESA's No-Name Mission contest, including accepting the terms and conditions and privacy statement, must be done in English. 

3 How to enter 

3.1 The Contest will run from 10 May 2021 (the "Opening Date") to 17 October 2021 (the "Closing Date") inclusive. 

3.2 All Contest entries must be received by the Agency by no later than 12:00 pm CEST on the Closing Date. All Contest entries received after the Closing Date and time are automatically disqualified. 

3.3 To enter the Contest online Participants shall submit the online entry form provided on https://www.esa.int/nonamemissioncontest-form

3.4 The Agency will not be responsible for Contest entry forms that are lost, mislaid or delayed in transit, regardless of the cause, including, for example, as a result of any equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind even if occurring on the side of ESA.

4 Judging Panel 

4.1 The Agency will appoint a judging panel. That panel will select a winning mission name from a shortlist of all the proposed mission names as selected by the ESA Communication Dept. The decision of the panel of judges will be final.  

4.2 As part of their considerations to select the shortlist, the ESA Communication Department will take into account whether or not the proposed mission name is acceptable to all ESA Member States, does not include or reference any unacceptable terms including racist, exclusionary or other language, and also is free of any brand name, registered copyright, trademark or other legal infringements 

5 Eligibility 

5.1 The Contest is open to nationals of ESA Member, Cooperating and Associate States, the European Union, Argentina, Australia and ISS partner countries , except for: 

• staff of ESA, its suppliers, its contractors; and 
• members of the immediate families or households of (a) above.

5.2 In submitting the Contest entry form, the Participant confirms she/he is eligible to do so, which includes her/his legal ability to accept the present Terms and Conditions in full. The Agency may require the Participant to provide proof of his /her eligibility to participate in the Contest (including the parental permission and consent form in case of Participants that are minors). 

5.3 There is a limit of one entry form per person per email address. Entry forms submitted on behalf of another person will not be accepted. Joint submissions are not allowed. 

5.4 The Agency reserves the right to disqualify an entry form at any time if the Participant’s conduct is contrary to the Terms and Conditions of this Contest or the values, interest and reputation of the Agency or its Member States. 

6 Winning mission name and prize 

6.1 The winning mission name will, upon approval of PB-SSA, become the official name of ESA’s new space weather mission (hereinafter the “Mission Name”). 

6.2 The prize for the winner of the Contest will be a 100 EURO voucher for ESA’s Space Shop and, if available, an exclusive virtual meeting with an ESA Astronaut/Expert. 

6.3 There is no provision whatsoever for any cash prize or award of monetary value, neither for participating in the Contest nor as an alternative for the prize. The prize is not negotiable. 

6.4 In the case that no suitable name is proposed, ESA reserves the right not to select any submitted names for the judging shortlist, not conduct the judging, not to select and award a winner and not use any of the submitted names.  

7 Winner announcement 

7.1 The winner is determined by the Judges’ choice, on the basis of judging criteria established by ESA prior to evaluation, on merit alone and in compliance with ESA values and legal requirements.

7.2 There will be one winner of the Contest only. If several Participants submit the same winning mission name, then the first one who submitted it chronologically, by filling in the entry form online (electronic time stamp of submission), will be considered as the winner. In this case, a consolation prize comprising a 25 EURO voucher for the ESA Space Shop may be awarded, under the same conditions as paragraph 6.3 above. 

7.3 The decision of the judging panel nominated by the Agency is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into, neither by the Agency nor by individual members of the Panel. 

7.4 The Agency will contact the winner personally as soon as practicable, using the email address provided with the Contest entry form.  

7.5 It is planned that the Mission Name will be publicly announced in November 2021. The Participant who won the Contest accepts that, after the formal announcement, his/her name together with the Mission Name will be disclosed to the public and published on the ESA website. 

8 Claiming the prize 

8.1 The prize may not be claimed by a third party on the winner’s behalf, except in cases of legal guardians claiming the prize for their minors.  

8.2 The Agency will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winner of the Contest but does not accept any responsibility if the winner does not respond or is not able to receive the prize. 

9 Ownership and intellectual property rights 

9.1 The Mission Name and related description submitted to the Agency by the Participant will become the property of the Agency upon receipt.

9.2 By submitting the Contest entry form and any accompanying material to the Agency, the Participant agrees to assign to the Agency all of the Participant’s transferable intellectual property rights in the Mission Name and otherwise arising in connection with the Mission Name, with full title guarantee.

9.3 The Participant agrees that the Agency may at its own absolute discretion use the Mission Name on the ESA website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the Contest and/or related to this Space Weather space mission. 

9.4 ESA retains all rights and title over its Intellectual Property Rights. No licence for the Participant and/or winner to use any ESA rights and interests is granted or implied by these Terms and Conditions.

9.5 Any documentation submitted by the Participant with the entry form will not be returned. 

10 Warranties and liability 

10.1 Nothing herein may be interpreting as limiting the liability of the Participant for gross negligence or wilful misconduct in the context of the Contest. 

10.2 In no case shall ESA be liable for any failure, total or partial, with regard to its role in relation to the Contest, nor for any delays or errors in fulfilling its role, including in particular, ESA shall not be liable for not selecting, or failing to select, a Participant as the winner of the Contest. 

10.3 Prior to proposing a name through the entry form, it is the Participant’s responsibility to obtain any intellectual property rights also from any third party to the extent it is necessary to assign the intellectual property rights on the proposed mission name to ESA should the Participant’s mission name be selected as the winning one. As such, the Participant guarantees hereby that she/he holds all transferable rights on his/her proposed mission name and that such mission name does not infringe any third parties’ rights. 

10.4 Should the Participant infringe any rights of third parties in the Mission Name, he/she shall indemnify, and hold ESA harmless, from and against any and all claims, proceedings, direct and indirect damages, costs and expenses arising from the infringement of such third parties’ rights. 

10.5 By proposing a name through the entry form, the Participant warrants to have the rights and authority to enter into the Contest and to comply with the Terms and Conditions set forth herein. 

10.6 ESA does not grant to the Participant any warranties whatsoever in connection with her/his participation in the Contest. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, ESA does not warrant that ESA will select the Participant as the winner of the Contest. 

11 Exclusion and withdrawal of Participants 

11.1 Should a Participant fail to comply with these Terms and Conditions, the Agency may exclude the Participant from the Contest.

11.2 Should a Participant selected as winner of the Contest decide to withdraw, for any reason whatsoever, from the Contest, the selected Participant shall promptly and in writing notify ESA to that effect. 

11.3 Upon the exclusion or withdrawal of a Participant selected as winner in accordance with the terms above, ESA may, at its discretion, select a new Participant as winner of the Contest.

11.4 A decision to exclude and/or to select a replacement for the winner of the Contest shall be taken by ESA at its sole and absolute discretion and shall be final and binding to the Participant in all respects. 

12 Personal data protection and publicity 

12.1 Protection of Personal Data is of great importance for ESA, which strives to ensure a high level of protection as required by the ESA Framework on Personal Data Protection (hereinafter the “ESA PDP Framework”) which applies in this Terms and Conditions. 

12.2 ESA implements appropriate measures to preserve the rights of data subjects, to ensure the processing of personal data for specified and legitimate purposes, in a non-excessive manner, as necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are collected or for which they are further processed, in conditions protecting confidentiality, integrity and safety of personal data and in accordance with the principles set forth in the PDP Framework, available at: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Law_at_ESA/Highlights_of_ESA_rules_and_regulations 

12.3 The ESA PDP Framework, in its implementation aims at ensuring an equivalent level of protection as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) in processing personal data. ESA processes your personal data for the purposes of this Contest in accordance with the principles of the ESA PDP Framework and as detailed in the ESA PDP Privacy Notice: URL privacy notice ESA requires contracting companies that perform processing of personal data on behalf of ESA to ensure an adequate level of protection under the ESA PDP Framework (e.g. through compliance with EU Regulations in the field of personal data protection).

12.4 The collection, handling and use of Personal Data relating to the Participant shall be treated as proprietary personal information and appropriately protected at all times. However, the name, image and country of residence of the winner of the Contest may be used by the Agency to announce the winner of this Contest and for any other reasonable and related communication purposes. 

12.5 By submitting its entry form, the Participant agrees to the processing of its data as set forth herein.

13 Applicable law and disputes

13.1 Except for personal data matters or incidents for which Article 12 applies, these Terms and Conditions, without prejudice to the applicability of the ESA Convention, and in particular of its Annex I on privileges and immunities, shall be governed and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of France. 

13.2 ESA and the Participant shall use their best endeavours to amicably settle any dispute arising out of these  Terms and Conditions. Failing amicable settlement, a dispute between ESA and the Participant shall be submitted to arbitration according to the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and shall be finally settled by one arbitrator or more arbitrators (in this latter case, one appointed by each party and the third one appointed independently). The language of arbitration shall be English. The place of arbitration shall be Paris, France. The decision from the arbitration shall be final, i.e. not subject to appeal. The Enforcement of the award shall be governed by the rules of procedure in force in France.

14 General 

14.1 ESA and the Participant are independent parties under these Terms and Conditions and nothing herein is intended nor shall be construed as creating any partnership or similar, whatsoever. 

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