International Space Station Floated As Surprise Contender For 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize this year could go galactic, with experts floating the International Space Station as a contender for the prestigious award. But terrestrial candidates loom large too, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, emergency teams in Sudan, children’s advocates in Ukraine and two top international courts.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner on October 9 in Oslo. The committee received 287 candidates for this year’s prize, with just over a quarter of them being organizations.

Haakon Gjerløw, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, is considered a top forecaster. He says the ISS, specifically the organization behind it, is a rare symbol of global cooperation at a time when multilateralism is crumbling and many countries have retreated into narrower national interests.

“It would be a symbol of what we can achieve when we are able to co-operate as humanity,” Gjerløw said.

Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the prize and has been nominated again. But he could be viewed as a controversial choice after the U.S., along with Israel, launched an ongoing war on Iran in February. Shawn Davies, a senior analyst at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, said he doesn’t think even Trump’s own base would believe he could win now, “given how he’s stuck in what looks like a forever war in Iran”.

Canada’s Carney has made a mark internationally this year, largely by standing up to Trump on issues like U.S. tariffs. Gjerløw noted that Carney’s name has likely been floated because of his resistance to Trump and his efforts to strengthen ties with Europe.

Gjerløw’s list also features Ukrainian children’s advocate Mykola Kuleba and Save the Children; Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms, a grassroots relief network; and the Committee to Protect Journalists after the deadliest two years for reporters since record-keeping began nearly 45 years ago. The International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court also received a joint nod.

Gjerløw said the committee’s choice is complicated by recent turmoil after 2025 laureate María Corina Machado of Venezuela presented her prize to Trump days after U.S. forces removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. One consideration, he said, could be whether giving the prize to someone could “put them under pressure from Donald Trump” and whether the award would “do more harm than good”.

This year’s peace prize comes amid the most war and conflict in decades, including in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, Iran and the Middle East.

“Trump will be unhappy whoever gets the Nobel,” said Nelson Wiseman, a University of Toronto professor emeritus. “If Carney got it, it would make relations with Canada rockier than they are”.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor, about US$1.2 million, whether for an individual, small group of laureates or an organization.