The Youth for Space Challenge - ODYSSEUS II project aims to inspire young people from all over Europe and to engage them in space exploration, through a series of educational activities, which will combine scientific learning with hands-on experiences. Through the organization of a fun oriented educational contest, which will be organized in multi rounds and which will target all pupils and students in Europe, wherever they are living and irrespective of their cultural background and the language they speak, the project will foster the development of qualified scientists, engineers and technicians in areas relevant to the priorities of the EU space policy. Besides the objective of providing the Space challenge to young people, the Odysseus II project will also strive to foster international collaboration and to attract attention to the field of science education related to space exploration. In this respect, the objective of the project is to involve national educational authorities and to engage with space industries and many science centres and space agencies across Europe on the exchange of experiences and knowledge on learning programmes about space exploration. Participation in the Odysseus II contest will be used as a good benchmark and indicator of how well space science and technology is accepted and integrated into the curriculum of different educational systems across the EU. Since educational competitions in general enjoy broader acceptance, the Odysseus II contest will also provide the opportunity to space industry and national educational authorities to show their support to educational activities related to space.