Participate
What you build,
and how it is judged
Teams of 3 to 4. Free to enter. Everything
runs online until the Grand Finale.
Who can enter
Students of classes 9 to 12, at any school in India.
Teams are 3 to 4 members. Entry is free. Every lecture and
workshop is online, so you can take part from anywhere in the country. Only
the Grand Finale is in person, at Agra.
A complete submission
Five parts. All five are required.
1. Dual-use canvas
State the space use case and the Earth use case explicitly.
If you cannot articulate both, the project is not on theme.
2. Working proof of concept
A functional build showing the core mechanism working. Not a
finished product. It has to actually do the central thing.
3. Resource budget
Power, materials, lifecycle. What it costs to run and what
happens to it at end of life.
4. Technical pack
System diagram, bill of materials, and a code
repository.
5. Pitch and demo
Three to five slides, plus a short demo video or a live
demonstration.
How it is judged
| Criterion | Weight | What it means |
|---|
| Dual-use credibility | 25 | Both use cases hold up to questioning |
| Working prototype | 25 | The core mechanism demonstrably works |
| Sustainability and resource efficiency | 20 | Power, materials, lifecycle |
| Innovation | 15 | Genuinely new, or a real improvement |
| Feasibility and scalability | 10 | Could this exist beyond the demo |
| Communication | 5 | Clear pitch, clear diagrams |
Five tracks
Each track is a constraint that is unavoidable in space and
ordinary in India. That symmetry is the point: if you design for one, you
are already designing for the other.
Pick the one closest to your idea. It helps us allocate a
mentor and group the judging. It does not lock you in.
Power where there is none
In space
No grid, no refuelling, a fixed solar budget that must last years.
On Earth
Clinics, schools and farms on unreliable supply or none at all.
Sessions
C2i Semiconductors, Ben-Gurion University, IIT Delhi
Closed loops: water and air
In space
The ISS recycles roughly 90 percent of its water, because nothing can be replaced.
On Earth
Groundwater depletion, contaminated supply, treatment that needs no technician.
Sessions
Plantables, DEI, IYNS
Seeing from far away
In space
You cannot inspect anything by hand, so you measure it remotely.
On Earth
Crop health across a district, air quality across a city, a river before it floods.
Sessions
VSSC, IIT Delhi, NCERT
Built for harsh places
In space
Vacuum, radiation, temperature swings, and no repair crew.
On Earth
Monsoon, dust, salt and heat, with no technician within a day's travel.
Sessions
University of Houston, IYNS, DEI
Growing food far from home
In space
No resupply, so food is grown in a closed system or not at all.
On Earth
Degraded soil, shrinking farmland, high altitude and arid regions.
Sessions
Plantables, Planet Spiti Foundation, DEI
Questions
Does it cost anything?
No. Entry is free and all lectures and workshops are
free and online.
Do we need to buy hardware?
You need a working proof of concept, so the core mechanism
has to run. That does not mean expensive parts. Judging rewards resource
efficiency, so a cheap build that works well scores better than an
expensive one that does not.
Can we take part from anywhere in India?
Yes. It is a national hackathon and everything is online
until the Grand Finale, which is in person at Agra.
How big is a team?
Three to four members, all from classes 9 to 12.
Where do the problem statements come from?
Each of the twelve lectures sets one open ended problem
statement for teams to work on.
What happens at the Grand Finale?
Shortlisted teams present in person at DEI, Agra on
1 January 2027.
REGISTER