Report on the ActInSpace Montpellier 2020 hackathon

This fourth edition of the ActInSpace Hackathon, organized locally by Montpellier BIC and Aerospace Valley in partnership with Montpellier IEA, harvested a variety of local talents who will move on to promote and represent the Montpellier area during the national final to be held in early 2021.

ActInSpace is a major international competition, halfway between a startup weekend and hackathon. It was launched in 2014 as an initiative by the National Center for Space Studies (CNES) and organized in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). Their goal is to imagine the products and services of tomorrow leveraging space-related technologies and creating startups.

This year’s event attracted about 3,400 participants in 62 cities across 40 countries on 5 continents. Each city simultaneously organized its own event on November 13-14, 2020.

Participants were given 24 hours to imagine a business project relating to space technologies, and then present their work to the jury in the afternoon of Saturday, November 14. Exceptionally, this year’s event took place entirely online to respect social distancing rules made necessary by the COVID-19 crisis.

By combining responsiveness, self-achievement, and teamwork to face these challenges, ActInSpace both encourages and facilitates entrepreneurship, particularly for young people, while promoting space technologies for everyday use to benefit the public, jobs, and our planet.

The big winner of the international event will receive a gravity-free flight in a training airplane for European astronauts. Other winners will benefit from an opportunity for assistance creating a startup.