Space geeks will have 30 hours to develop and pitch their innovative ideas to a pool of industry experts during Canberra’s first SpaceHack competition.

Ten teams will tackle a range of complex space technology challenges during the two-day ‘hackathon’ event hosted by the Canberra Innovation Network on 17-18 June.

Canberra Innovation Network CEO Petr Adamek says participants excited by space technologies, innovation and entrepreneurship will have an opportunity to collaborate with mentors and space companies during workshops where they will learn how to generate, evolve and pitch their ‘space-breaking’ ideas to win the vote of the judges.

He says SpaceHack provides up-and-coming space innovators, including researchers and university students, with an opportunity to build their networks, and provides access to incredible mentors and industry resources.

Petr describes hackathons as a pathway for progress and success.

“The pressure of the hackathon, learning from others and the experience of pitching to judges is very unique,” he says.

“The winning teams will be given the support to continue to build their solution into something tangible, and the connections with industry they will grow at SpaceHack will enable them to do this.”

Teams will explore how existing or emerging technology or processes can be applied in space research and exploration.

They’ll also look at how a space technology or discovery can be applied in a novel way to create value and impact on Earth.

The 10 teams from ANU, UC, CIT, UNSW and teams comprising local entrepreneurs and businesses will go head-to-head to take home prizes from the Embassy of the United States of America in Canberra, which is sponsoring the event to encourage transcontinental collaboration in space industries.

Winners will also have the opportunity to access sponsors or participate in Canberra Innovation Network programs – such as Idea to Impact – to take their ideas to the next level.

Petr says he is excited to be working with the US Embassy to offer the Canberra Innovation Network’s first SpaceHack because “there is so much innovation potential in humanity’s effort to explore space”.

“Combined with broader and long-term collaborations and strong entrepreneurial ambition and drive, our learnings from space exploration can have substantial impact on Earth and help us address some of our biggest challenges,” he says.

This article was originally published by Katrina Condie on RiotACT.