12th CASSINI Hackathon. EU Space Technology for Peace and Resilience

The Twelfth CASSINI Hackathon will bring together participants who want to create technological solutions for security, peace and civil resilience using space technology and European Union data.

The Ukrainian stage will be held simultaneously in Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk. The local organizer is the NGO METALAB. Partners of the event in Ukraine are the Kyiv Aviation Institute and Promprylad.Renovation. The hackathon is funded by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA).

Within 48 hours, participants will work on one of three thematic areas:

• cybersecurity of strategic systems that use space technologies;
• application of space data to respond to crises and enhance civil resilience;
• countering cross-border crime and terrorism with space data

To develop solutions, teams will be able to use data, information and signals from the European space programs Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS. Before the hackathon starts, participants will have access to online classes dedicated to working with these tools.

The program in Ukraine includes consultations with experts on defense, satellite data and aerospace research, practical workshops, mentorship support for mentors and preparation for the presentation of the project. Teams must develop a prototype or concept of the solution, identify its target users, form a business model and present the result to the jury.

Previous experience with space technology is not required. Applicants  can register individually or with the team. The organizers will help individual participants find partners with the necessary competencies. Participation is open to developers, designers, entrepreneurs, researchers, students and specialists in other fields.

The winners of the local stage will have the opportunity to present their solutions at the European Demo Day. At the international level, there are three cash awards in the amount of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 euros. The top three teams among all locations will also receive six months of CASSINI expert mentoring.

The hackathon will take place on November 29, 2026. Registration is opened by November 20. During registration, each participant creates their own profile and chooses a Ukrainian location.