Central Asian team wins second place at EU Act in Space final
ActInSpace is an international innovation competition that offers the chance to work on Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and European Space Agency (ESA) patents. The competition began at the country level in January, with participants from all over the world bringing their ideas for satellite technology to expert jurists. The hackathon’s Central Asia competition was organized for the first time by the European Union (EU) Global Gateway Connectivity for Central Asia (C4CA) program – Soft Pillar of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia. The winning teams were then invited to the final competition in France.
Once in France, finalist teams from the different countries were organized into five pools, with each pool having four to five teams. The teams then pitched their winning concepts to a jury of experts from major European space agencies, CNES, ESA, Thales, Novespace and others.
Kazakhstan’s SUniverse team demonstrated their solution that focuses on the development of a machine learning–based classification system for data analysis and decision support to extend the lifetime of satellites. The project demonstrated how machine learning models can be applied to real-world datasets to improve prediction quality and support data-driven decisions.
Uzbekistan’s NazarX team presented their modular satellite that easily allows one to replace modules in CubeSat using snap-together components with magnetic connectors, which increases maintainability and scalability while saving time from several days to several hours. The concept enables one to build, upgrade, or repair satellites on Earth or in orbit—just like LEGO blocks.
Only one team per pool would make it to the final round, with the Uzbek team being one of them. Five teams from Senegal, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Australia and France were in the final round, with the NazarX team from Uzbekistan winning second place. Starting with 1,700 participants from all over the world to competing among the top finalists, the event raised awareness of the skills of young Central Asian space experts, thanks to the incredible team from Uzbekistan.
“Events such as these serve to connect those working in the field of digital connectivity in Central Asia with European space agencies. We are proud to support exciting events like this, which create an inclusive and collaborative environment that encourages digital space tech solutions development, knowledge sharing, creativity, teamwork and problem solving in the field of space sector,” noted Mr. Nicola Franceschetti, Program Manager from the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakhstan
Background: The TEI on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia is one of the Global Gateway flagship projects between the EU and Central Asia. This initiative aims to promote digital connectivity and the development of the digital economy in Central Asia, tackling the connectivity gap in the region by developing a high-capacity internet network and by supporting investment in satellite constellations and the deployment of ground infrastructure. It seeks to mitigate the digital divide and generate positive side effects for the wider economy, in particular for people in remote and marginalized communities.
The EU Global Gateway’s Team Europe Initiative on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia soft pillar is implemented by a consortium of 5 EU cooperation agencies, coordinated by Expertise France (France) with Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania partners. Overall, it is aimed at fostering safe and inclusive satellite connectivity access and use across Central Asian countries, in particular for women, youth and marginalised groups, with the aim to support digitally-driven socio-economic inclusion.