ActInSpace® 2020: the challenges are online! The international competition for imagining tomorrow’s products and services thanks to space: Registration opens 29th February Hackathon on 24th & 25th April

ActInSpace®, a CNES and ESA initiative, is the reference international competition for imagining the products and services of tomorrow using satellite data or space applications.

Operated this year again by Aerospace Valley (acting as manager of the ESA BIC Sud France), midway between a start-up weekend and a hackathon, ActInSpace® enables teams of 2 to 5 people with different profiles and throughout the world to take up, in just 24 hours, one of the challenges set up by CNES and ESA, based on their patents or on data provided by the event’s partners (Airbus, GSA, ESSP, SES, WEKEO, …).

Through these challenges, combining proactiveness, pushing the limits and team spirit, ActInSpace® fosters and facilitates entrepreneurship, especially among young people, while promoting space technologies for daily uses, for the benefit of citizens, employment and our planet.

The best team wins a ZeroG flight in the European astronaut’s aircraft and all the competitors get the opportunity to be accompanied for the launch of their start-up.

Since the 1st edition of ActInSpace®, in 2014, 35 start-ups have been created in the different host countries. Among recent examples features the German team of Panda Insight UG, one of the winners  of ActInSpace® in 2018. This app helps smartphone users to find the perfect routine for their health goals using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence from space.

For the last edition of ActInSpace®, in 2018, 2,200 participants, among which 70% students, confronted each other during the hackathon that took place at the same time in 32 countries and 54 cities throughout the world.  510 projects were showcased, 80 challenges were taken up and 500 professionals helped the contestants.

For the 4th edition, over 50 countries, in 100 cities, across 5 continents, are organising their edition of ActInSpace® on 24th and 25th April 2020.

The international finals will take place in Toulouse, France, on 19th June 2020, during Meet In Space, the new international meeting for the space industry, a platform for the world’s latest innovations and technologies and a driver for meetings and collaborations in the sector.

With the support of many international partners, several prizes will reward the best teams:
ActInSpace® Grand International Prize (in partnership with AirZeroG)
Autonomous Car Prize (in partnership with Continental)
Copernicus Prize (in partnership with Wikeo)
Environment Prize (in partnership with Suez)
Innovation Prize (in partnership with Airbus)
Observation of the Earth Prize (in partnership with Airbus)
Space IoT for Oceans Prize (in partnership with CLS / Kinéis)
Women’s Entrepreneurship Prize (in partnership with EBAN Space)

ActInSpace® 2020 is supported by 13 international partners: Airbus, historic Gold partner of the event, and SES, world number 1 supplier of satellite telecom services, who has chosen to be Silver partner this year.  AirZero G, Continental, CLS/Kinéis, Dassault Aviation, EBAN Space, ESSP, GSA, Invest in Toulouse, Suez and Wekeo also support ActInSpace® International. For France, ActInSpace® is supported by Thales Alénia Space.

Online registration and information: www.actinspace.org

cp037-2020_-_actinspace_va.pdf (pdf - 1.19 MB)

CONTACTS
Pascale Bresson    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Raphaël Sart    Press Officer    Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 51    raphael.sart@cnes.fr