Developers are invited to free Space App Camp

Huge amounts of data from space are produced daily by the Earth observation (EO) program Copernicus and its Sentinel satellites. This big data from space, including information on our planet’s atmosphere, land, and water, offer countless opportunities in connection with mobile apps.

The ESA Space App Camp aims to make EO data and services accessible to a wide range of citizens. Participants get introduced to Copernicus and learn about the many ways in which big data from space can enrich mobile apps using a dedicated API for EO data. Additionally, they will make contacts with like-minded participants from all over Europe and they will gain insights into how ESA operates.

Going to Space App Camp

ESA invites developers from across Europe to exchange new ideas with fellow developers and tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges from 16-23 September 2019. The invitation includes food & beverage, hotel and flight expenses. Interested students, researchers, developers, and economists are able to register online as individuals or teams (of up to four people) until 15 July 2019. The selection criteria will include the applicants’ previous programming work. The winner or winning teams will receive a EUR 2,500 cash prize and the opportunity to apply for further incubation at one of the ESA Business Incubation Centres (BICs).

“Our personal experience at the App Camp was astonishing. This was one of the most innovative events we have attended so far: ESA provides perfect working conditions to help the teams bring their ideas to life in prototypes and fosters innovation using cutting-edge technologies. Winning the ESA Space App Camp helped us validate our idea and encouraged us to go further - to open our own space tech start-up using Earth observation data technologies,” explains Olga Bodet, CEO and co-founder, Zero Gravity Oy.

The Finnish team from Zero Gravity Oy was the winner of the Space App Camp 2018 with its app called Urbansat. The app aims to guide greener, more ecological urban planning. It provides a range of data for planners, including information on green spaces, terrain, biodiversity and more.