Published : 04 Oct 2026, 12:46 PM
Updated : 04 Oct 2026, 12:46 PM
A cosmic contender has entered the Nobel Peace Prize conversation, with commentators suggesting the International Space Station (ISS) could take this year's honour, The Independent reports.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner in Oslo on Friday, Oct 9.
Experts say candidates closer to home are also under consideration, including US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, emergency teams in Sudan, advocates for children in Ukraine and two leading international courts.
Forecasting the winner remains uncertain, with several surprising and controversial choices over the years, the British broadcaster says.
The committee has logged 287 candidates, organisations making up just over a quarter.
Experts say the panel typically prioritises the durability of peace, the advancement of international brotherhood and the quiet labours of institutions that bolster those goals.
Haakon Gjerløw, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, considers the organisation behind the ISS a rare symbol of international cooperation at a time when multilateralism is under pressure, The Independent said.
Trump has again been nominated and has openly expressed his desire to win the prize.
But his candidacy could prove controversial following the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Carney has also emerged as a contender after taking a stronger international stance, including pushing back against Trump over US tariffs.
Gjerløw’s list also includes Ukrainian children’s advocate Mykola Kuleba and Save the Children, Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court jointly.
The ICC has drawn both criticism and support over arrest warrants for figures including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the ICC, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign in July to dismantle what he called the threat posed by the court to US sovereignty.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor was removed later that month over sexual misconduct allegations.
Women in Focus
The choice is also complicated by developments involving last year’s laureate, Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, who presented her prize to Trump after US forces removed President Nicolás Maduro from power, Gjerløw said.
The prize comes amid major conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and Iran, while global security tensions have also risen.
Shawn Davies, a senior analyst at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, said increased international tensions and shifts in the global security order had weakened US willingness to enforce international rules.
Jody Williams, who shared the 1997 Peace Prize, said she hoped the trend of recognising women would continue.
Only 20 of the prize’s 112 individual laureates have been women in its 125-year history.
Over the past 15 years, eight women have won the prize individually, compared with six men. Names circulating this year include Gaza surgeon Sara al-Saqqa and Yulia Navalnaya, the Russian opposition figure and widow of Alexei Navalny.
Nobel week begins Monday with the medicine prize, followed by physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The peace prize will be announced Friday, while the economics prize follows on Oct 12.
The prize money is 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million, whether awarded to an individual, group or organisation.
Political fallout is expected whichever candidate wins, according to experts.
“Trump will be unhappy whoever gets the Nobel,” University of Toronto professor emeritus Nelson Wiseman said. “If Carney got it, it would make relations with Canada rockier than they are.”
