The NASA Space Apps Challenge is returning to Vaasa on 14–15 November 2026! As preparations get underway for this year’s hackathon, it’s a great time to look back at last year’s event, which brought together space enthusiasts, students and creative minds for a weekend of coding, collaboration and innovative ideas.
In 2025, the hackathon took place at MUOVA’s premises in the Fabriikki building on the University of Vaasa campus. The event attracted 58 registrations, with most student participants coming from the international student community in Vaasa and some joining from even a little bit further.
Participants explored a wide range of challenges from the 17 options available, approaching them with different ideas and skills. During the two-day hackathon, teams developed everything from a Unity-based game demonstrating movement in zero gravity and web applications visualising pollution levels to an interactive simulation for experimenting with farming on Mars.
Curious about the projects? Explore the challenges selected by the ten teams competing in Vaasa in 2025 on the NASA Space Apps Challenge website.
“We love space and nature” – young participants explore space through Scratch coding
Among the first-time participants were twin sisters Helia and Paria Amirzadeh, who were also the youngest participants at the event. Having moved to Finland with their family just two months earlier, the ten-year-olds were eager to take part with their team Malus on sun. Their whole family joined the hackathon, sharing their enthusiasm for space and nature.
Why did you join NASA Space Apps Challenge?
“We wanted to join because we like NASA and coding, and we love space! The event is good for children, and we can learn more about space.”
What was your project about?
“We chose the Stellar Stories: Space Weather Through the Eyes of Earthlings challenge, as it was the only one aimed at children. For it, we created an animation showing planets spinning around the Sun. The animation is about the massive solar storm that occurred in 2012 – it shows what what would’ve happened if it had crashed into the planet, based on NASA’s real investigation into this possibility.
How did you create the animation?
“With Scratch, it is easy and fun. Coding happens in the background as you write it, and the animations is created with the code. We learned to use Scratch at school and in other classes in our home country.”
How has the hackathon been so far?
“It has been very fun!”
Returning participant combines robotics and Earth observation
Among the returning participants was Yelyzaveta Pervysheva, a PhD researcher at Tampere University whose work involves GNSS interference, including jamming and spoofing, as well as robotic navigation.
In 2025, she joined Team ROBOSAT, which selected the challenge Through the Radar Looking Glass: Revealing Earth Processes with SAR. The team explored how Earth observation data and laser-based technologies could help robot dogs navigate dangerous areas, like mountains and forests, with potential applications in natural disaster response and search-and-rescue operations.
What made you come back to Space Apps this year?
“I started working with robotics and came up with a cool idea that I could develop further at the hackathon. It’s also always nice to work with a team and do some intensive productive work, and last year I had fun too!”
What was the most memorable part of your previous experience?
“My team won last year, and I didn’t expect such a good result. I was positively surprised by my team and their skills. We also got to present our hackathon project at the Winter Satellite Workshop in Espoo.”
Why would you recommend others to join?
“The topics are broad, and you can really do anything! Find a challenge that is somehow close to your idea, or adapt your idea to fit the challenge. Don’t be scared to join!”
Join NASA Space Apps Challenge Vaasa 2026
A big thank you to Jari Ratilainen for organising the 2025 event, the mentors and everyone who helped make it happen. And of course to all the participants who filled the weekend with creativity, collaboration and innovative ideas.
Ready to take part in the next challenge? NASA Space Apps Challenge returns to Vaasa Startup Factory on 14–15 November 2026, bringing another opportunity to explore space and collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
No matter whether you are an experienced coder, a designer, a student or simply curious about space, there is room for different skills and ideas.
Registration is open! Find the event details and sign up on the NASA Space Apps Challenge Vaasa 2026 website: https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2026/local-events/vaasa/?tab=details
