The Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) is bringing ActInSpace the European Space Agency’s (ESA) space start-up competition to students and young innovators alike. The competition will take place on November 18 and 19 at Discovery Alpha in Nicosia, CSEO’s home for research and innovation. Winners will be announced the second day and will represent Cyprus in the international competition in France.
Returning to Cyprus for 2022, ActInSpace is a competition offering members of the public the opportunity to develop solutions to challenges in space exploration into start-ups. Participants can work either as individuals or in teams and will have 24 hours to dream up new, viable solutions for Europe’s future space exploration, research and technologies.
The winning teams will represent Cyprus at the ActInSpace semi-finals in Cannes, where they will also have the opportunity to form their own start-up companies, get access to funding and even discover career opportunities in space.
ActInSpace is a classic hackathon, meaning that participants have 24 hours to imagine solutions for the future of space defence. The event was created by ESA and France’s National Centre for Space Studies (Centre National d’Études Spatiales, CNES) and is operated by the Aerospace Valley competitiveness cluster.
Anyone with a passion for space and a good idea can take part, no special skills, qualifications or specific degrees required.
CSEO notes that it is an incredible opportunity for participants to discover the little-known space defence sector, its future challenges and the new jobs that will result from meeting those challenges. While the competition focuses on the business aspect of space, political science, economics and international and commercial law are just some of the many other fields required to prepare comprehensive, viable solutions for Europe’s space activities, it adds.
There are over 20 challenges on topics ranging from lunar exportation to ecological issues.
Participants will work on challenges related to space exploration, research and technology, individually or in teams, and will deliver an analysis and an action plan. After 24 hours, a jury comprised of judges with various backgrounds (such as academia, industry or start-ups) will appraise each entry to choose the two teams that will represent Cyprus in the international semi-finals. The international final will take place in February in Cannes. The international winning team will have the opportunity to experience a zero-gravity flight.
ActInSpace 2020 took place simultaneously in 35 countries and 58 cities, despite the global COVID-19 crisis. This fourth edition proved an enormous success, attracting 543 teams comprised of 2,300 participants who worked for 24 hours on one of the 51 challenges set.
CSEO has developed a start-up programme to help guide promising ideas and solutions as they progress into start-ups and commercially viable entities. Part of this programme is its International Space Network which offers access to space sector knowledge and expertise from around the world, as well as to funding opportunities for start-ups.
Those interested can follow CSEO’s Facebook page for updates. Webpage: actinspace.org/country/cyprus and registrations (free): actinspace.org/register
Source: Cyprus News Agency