What is a Space Hackathon?

In recent years, multidisciplinary teams have become increasingly essential to tackle challenges that are bigger than one person, such as space exploration. To address these issues, national and international hackathons have emerged as a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration and problem-solving. By bringing together individuals with diverse perspectives, skills, and resources, hackathons enable rapid development of innovative solutions at the intersection of different fields.

For The Spring Institute, hackathons center around challenges related to space, which are interwoven with biology, engineering, and art. Participants have the opportunity to acquire new skills, connect with experts, and solve real-world problems. Meanwhile, the organizing team gains insights from the range of innovative ideas and forms new long-term partnerships, while also advancing their mission.

Hackathons offer an environment that fosters productivity by providing a focused, distraction-free space for participants to work on a single issue and engage in technical and scientific discussions with peers. Registration fees are typically waived to promote inclusivity, and teams work collaboratively in small groups for 12 hours to develop and present their solutions. Throughout the event, teams receive expert guidance and are encouraged to refine their proposals before the final pitch.

2023 Hackathon in Kigali, Rwanda

Our Challenges

- The Art of Space Ecology: The goal of this challenge was to build a visual model illustrating the dynamics of a hypothetical space ecosystem.

- Moonscaping: The goal of this challenge was to build a terrarium that will fit inside a 1.5 CubeSat unit.

- Sensor-Package: The goal of this challenge was to develop a space-compatible sensor package that can be used to monitor the abiotic factors of a hypothetical ecosystem in space.

Our Winners

- The Art of Space Ecology Challenge: The Legends and Bio-Explorers

- Moonscaping Challenge: Team Blue

- Sensor Package Challenge: Terra Luna

Our Sponsors and Partners

2024 Hackathon in Rwanda and Tunisia

Our Challenges

- The Living Forest Challenge: The goal of this challenge was to create models that forecast forest growth over centuries, enabling us to make design decisions today that we can trust will shape the behavior of forests on the Moon 1000 years from now. This challenge requires to dive deep into Earth's forests, analyzing their dynamics and extracting essential parameters.

- The Cosy Home Challenge: The Cosy Home Challenge focused on the art and science of creating habitable environments on celestial bodies where temperature disparities between day and night are extreme. On the Moon's equator, daytime temperatures can soar to 120°C, while nighttime plunges to a bone-chilling -130°C. The goal of this challenge was to design a Moon base maquette, drawing inspiration from traditional architectural designs used on Earth to mitigate extreme temperatures.

- Kids Grow on the Moon Challenge: In a world where it can take centuries for forests to flourish, the goal of this challenge was to envision a future where kids can watch forests bloom on the Moon through creative storytelling.