Experts from NASA, Space Agency Partners, and industry leaders will evaluate the projects. Your Local Event will also be completing judging to nominate projects for Global Awards.
- Global Nominees will be announced on November 5.
- Global Finalists and Honorable Mentions will be announced on November 26.
- Global Winners will be announced on December 18.
For more detailed information, read the 👉 Judging & Awards Guide
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is a hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, technologists, and innovators around the world to come together and use open data from NASA and its Space Agency Partners to create solutions to challenges we face on Earth and in Space. Space Apps is the world’s largest global hackathon, bringing together innovators, developers, designers, and space enthusiasts in more than 160 cities worldwide.
This year, teams in Zurich will get to choose from:
- 8 Local Zurich Challenges 🇨🇭 tailored to Swiss needs and opportunities
- 18 Global Challenges defined by NASA and its partners 🌍
All challenge descriptions and resources are organized here in this repository.
All challenges are eligible for Global Nominations. However, only local challenges will be considered for local rewards and judged at the local level.
The judging categories are:
- Best Use of Data & Science
- Best Mission Concept
- Best Use of Technology
- Galactic Impact
- Best Local Impact
- Best Design Concept
- Best Use of Artheficial Intelligence
Explore the official NASA Space Apps 2025 challenges:
👉 See the Global Challenges
In addition to the global challenges, Zurich offers 8 unique local tracks. These challenges focus on sustainability, urban planning, tourism, pharma, and agriculture, leveraging open data, satellite insights, and Swiss innovation.
- 🌱 From Farm to Table: Using Space Data to Support Swiss Farmers and Reduce Food Waste
- ⚡ Smarter Energy Planning with Weather Forecasts
- 🌆 Space Data for a Smarter & More Attractive Zurich
- 🗺️ Challenge: Unlocking the Atlas der Schweiz
- 🌾 Climate Smart Supply Chains: Securing Food Futures from Space
- 💊 Space-Enabled Pharma: Unlocking Microgravity Research to Advance Health on Earth
- 🚦 Smarter Urban Planning & Navigation for Zurich
- 🚨 Save Blatten & Beyond: Rapid Response to Natural and Man-Made Disasters
The mission of this hackathon is to:
- Leverage space data (NASA, ESA, Copernicus, Swiss open data)
- Solve real-world challenges for Zurich and Switzerland
- Build prototypes, dashboards, models, or apps in just 48 hours
- Collaborate with an amazing international and local community
- Date: October 4–5, 2025
- Location: Zurich (onsite & virtual participation)
- Venue: Novu Campus AG, The Circle 60, 8058 Zürich
- Linkedin page: : Space Apps CH
- Whatsapp Group: : please register first at spaceappschallenge.org to be able to get invite to local group. It will be main communication channel for the hackathon.
- Registration: spaceappschallenge.org.
- Please create account and choose Zurich as location to participate. Mandatory registration for all team members.
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Team Size:
- Standard: 2–4 members
- Exception: Teams with underage participants + guardian may have up to 5 members
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Team Composition:
- At least 50% of team members should have a technical background (e.g., software developers, engineers, data scientists, GIS specialists)
- Non-technical participants (designers, storytellers, business, policy, art, education) are strongly encouraged to join for diversity
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Participation Format:
- Teams may be onsite in Zurich, hybrid, or fully virtual
- Onsite participation (at Nivicampus, Zurich) is only allowed for teams that:
- Have formed a complete team
- Have selected a challenge
- Do so before the deadline: October 3, 2025
- Teams forming or choosing a challenge after October 3 may still join, but only in virtual format
Team Creation:
- 3rd October, 23:59 CET – for Onsite participants (Onsite and Hybrid teams)
- 4th October, 11:00 CET – for Virtual participants (Virtual teams)
Hybrid team shoudl have at least 2 team members present onsite in Zurich. Otherwise we suggest to join as fully virtual team for best hackathon expirience. No solo teams (with only 1 participant) allowed in any format.
⛔ After these deadlines, no team changes or additional participants can be added.
Project Page & Submission Edits:
You may continue to edit your team page, submission, and project details until 6th October.
After this date, the page will be locked.
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Submission Rules:
- All teams must submit their project on the official global Space Apps platform
- Submission is the final step, after ideas and challenges have been developed during the hackathon
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Local vs. Global Awards:
- Local Challenges → Eligible for local Zurich prizes & recognition; can also be nominated for global judging
- Global-only Challenges (without Zurich local relevance) → Eligible for global judging, but not local awards
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Special Zurich Bonus:
- Zurich City Tourist Cards will be distributed to participants working on Zurich-focused challenges
- Additional perks and prizes will be provided by local sponsors
- Browse the 7 Local Challenge markdown files linked above
- Refer to the 18 Global NASA Challenges for broader inspiration
- Use the suggested open data resources to power your projects
- Share and collaborate through issues & pull requests if you’re a participant
⚡ Your Mission:
Let’s make Zurich shine as a hub of innovation where space data meets sustainability, smart cities, and health.
By participating in Discussions within this repository, you are confirming that you have registered for the 2025 NASA International Space Apps Hackathon and have agreed to and signed the Terms & Conditions.
Welcome to the NASA Space Apps Challenge – Zurich Edition!
https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/local-events/zurich/