Airbus Defence and Space is partnering with the French and European space agencies (CNES and ESA*) to organise ActInSpace.

The challenge? For teams to apply space technology for the good of ‘people, employment and the planet’.

ActInSpace is a first for Europe and will promote the dynamic image of the space sector, proving that this field drives innovation to boost employment and economic development in space and non-space industries alike.

 The contest will be taking place on 20 and 21 May 2016 in 30 cities across Europe, as well as one in Morocco and one in Brazil. Participants will have 24 hours to rise to challenges such as ‘Design an application to see how your city changes in real time’, ‘Devise new services to assist the elderly or disabled’, or even ‘Improve the handling of natural disasters’. Anyone can join a team: students, entrepreneurs, researchers, developers, users, creative thinkers, designers, experts or simply space fans.

Winning teams will proceed to the International finals.

Inspired by the first ‘Space Hackathon’, organised by NASA, this contest is open to a wide audience and aims to unearth innovation using space technologies.

Great prizes are up for grabs: including a zero-gravity flight on board the Airbus A300 ZERO-G, a trip to Kourou in French Guiana to see a rocket launch or a voucher worth € 100,000 to purchase satellite imagery and coaching/support for the creation of a start-up.

To take up the challenge, sign up on the website.

* including the ESA Business Incubation Centres