ActInSpace || An international innovation contest lead by CNES and ESA

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Launched in 2014 by the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES, France) and the European Space Agency (ESA), this event takes place every two years and is currently preparing its 6th edition. Last time, 1 800 participants from all over the world took part in ACT in SPACE, dispatched into 410 teams, with 50+ sites hosting the event in 35 countries. 40 startups emerged out of the last competition.

The first stage, in the form of a hackathon, will take place on January 30-31 2026. For the sake of fairness, the hackathon will take place at the same time throughout the world. This means that all participants will be able to benefit from online support when needed. Given the high complexity of the spatial challenges, ActInSpace's remote experts will be available throughout the whole duration of the challenge and local experts will be present on site.

The second stage of ActInSpace International Event will take place in Bordeaux, France, on 1-2 April 2026. The winners of the local hackathons will compete there for international semi-finals and finals.

20+ challenges have so far been submitted by major space players such as ESA, CNES, Airbus and Thales Alenia Space.

Like other global spatial challenges, the main aim of ActInSpace is to stimulate interest in Space and Science, in a rapidly evolving field, and to inspire collaboration on a global scale.

What makes ActInSpace special is that it promotes the entrepreneurial spirit and guides teams through the process. Several inspiring entrepreneurial success stories can be attributed to ActInSpace since 2014 with many companies still active today.

We'd be delighted to have you on board for next year's event as an organising site.

Following the fourth global edition, ActInSpace 2020, ActInSpace 2022 was a resounding success.

ActInSpace 2022 took place simultaneously on 19 and 20 November 2022 in 34 countries and 65 cities. This fifth edition was a huge success, attracting more than 2,900 registrants.

During the event, 1,700 participants took part in more than 410 teams working for 24 hours on one of the 32 challenges on offer.

The international prize, a zero-gravity flight aboard the A310 Zero-G aircraft, was won by the Azerbaijan team, named Nexus.

Let us remember this great event together.

ActInSpace® is an international innovation contest initiated by the French Space Agency (CNES) uniting over 100 cities across 5 continents. ActInSpace® is supported by ESA and the ESA Business Incubation Centres network. The 6th edition of ActInSpace® is operated by Telecom Valley and Safe.