The International Space Station could be an unusual contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, while experts are also considering figures and organizations involved in politics, humanitarian work and international justice.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is scheduled to announce this year's winner in Oslo on Oct. 9, renewing the annual speculation over who will receive one of the world's most prestigious awards.

Predicting the winner is difficult, as the committee has made unexpected and sometimes controversial choices in the past. It received 287 nominations for this year's prize, with slightly more than a quarter going to organizations.

Experts say the committee generally considers efforts that support lasting peace, international cooperation and institutions working to strengthen those goals.

Space station seen as symbol of cooperation
Haakon Gjerløw, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo and a prominent Nobel Peace Prize forecaster, has included the International Space Station among this year's possible contenders.

He said the ISS, or the international cooperation behind it, represents an uncommon example of countries working together on a shared goal at a time when global cooperation is facing growing challenges.

The institute's annual watch list is closely followed by experts and others trying to predict the Nobel committee's decision.

Trump, Carney also among contenders
US President Donald Trump, who has openly expressed his desire to receive the prize, has again been nominated. However, his possible selection could be controversial following the US-Israeli war with Iran that began in February.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also attracted international attention this year, particularly over his disagreements with Trump on issues including US tariffs.

Gjerløw's list also includes Ukrainian children's rights advocate Mykola Kuleba and Save the Children, Sudan's grassroots Emergency Response Rooms and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have also been mentioned as possible joint recipients.

The ICC has faced both criticism and support over its arrest warrants for senior figures including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the ICC. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in July a campaign aimed at dismantling what he called the threat posed by the court to US sovereignty. Later that month, the ICC's chief prosecutor was removed from office following sexual misconduct allegations.

Gjerløw said the Nobel committee's decision has also been complicated by developments involving last year's laureate, Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado. She symbolically presented her prize to Trump days after US forces removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power.

Wars dominate this year's backdrop
This year's Peace Prize will be announced amid widespread conflicts, including wars in Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, Iran and the broader Middle East.

Shawn Davies, a senior analyst with the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, pointed to rising international tensions and changes in the global security system. He linked the developments to what he described as declining US willingness to enforce international rules.

Davies said Washington had moved from being a guarantor of the post-World War II international order to violating those rules in some cases.

“I don't even think his own base would believe” Trump could win the prize now, Davies said, referring to what he described as the president's involvement in a continuing war in Iran.

Jody Williams, who jointly won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, said she hopes the committee continues its recent trend of recognizing women.

Only 20 of the 112 individual Nobel Peace Prize laureates over the award's 125-year history have been women. Over the past 15 years, eight women have won individually, compared with six men.

Names circulating in prediction markets this year include Gaza surgeon Sara al-Saqqa and Yulia Navalnaya, a Russian opposition figure and widow of Alexei Navalny.

Nobel announcements begin next week
Nobel Prize announcements will begin 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 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Oct. 12.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million, whether the award goes to an individual, a group or an organization.

Whatever the committee decides, experts expect the Peace Prize to generate political reactions.

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