Skip to content
Register now
Register now

enter the flow state

Space & Water Nexus Hackathon

1–3 October 2026 · CometLab, Noordwijk

Three days to work on challenges in water, infrastructure and environmental monitoring, with direct access to challenge owners, potential end users, experts, data and tools.

Register now

 

Free participation · Meals included · Low-cost accommodation available

Why Join?

CHALLENGE OWNERS & END USERS

Work directly with organisations supporting the challenges. Ask questions and get feedback while you work.

MATCHMAKING

Meet potential end users and relevant stakeholders during the hackathon and the Saturday matchmaking event.

DATA & TOOLS

Access the Satellite Data Portal, Open Data Lab (ODL) and additional resources provided for the hackathon.

MENTORS & EXPERTISE

Get input from specialists across Earth Observation, water, data, technology, business and other relevant fields.

THREE DAYS TO WORK

Bring an existing solution or developed concept, or work with your team on one of the hackathon challenges.

FOLLOW-UP OPPORTUNITIES

One winning team will receive support to prepare a FIERCE Financial Support Programme application, with additional prizes and opportunities to be announced soon.

built on a proven flow

The Space & Water Nexus Hackathon is organised by Groundstation.space in collaboration with FIERCE and partners across the water, space and innovation ecosystem. Groundstation.space brings experience from organising previous hackathons, connecting teams with experts, end users and organisations relevant to the challenges they work on.

Register now

What can you win?

CASH PRIZE

Winner: € 2500,-

Prototyping workshop at CometLab

FOLLOW-UP SUPPORT

  • Introduction to the local startup & entrepreneurship ecosystem
  • Media exposure and promotion
  • Personalised funding opportunity scan

 

FIERCE SUPPORT

One winning team will receive support from dotSPACE to prepare an application for the FIERCE Financial Support Programme, subject to FIERCE eligibility and selection requirements.

MORE TO COME

 Additional prizes & opportunities  will be announced soon

Choose your Challenge

 Work on challenges provided by organisations dealing directly with the issues at hand. Challenge owners will provide context, answer questions and interact with teams during the hackathon. 

Prevention roadside fires. Supporting tool for roadside management Rijkswaterstaat

Develop a tool or concept that converts remote sensing data from satellite monitoring, potentially supplemented by other data, into actionable management information for Rijkswaterstaat. The focus is on monitoring roadside mowing and identifying conditions that may increase the risk of roadside fires.

Read more

Actionable Insights on Soil Compaction

Develop a hybrid satellite and in-situ approach to measure soil compaction and its impact on agricultural land. The focus is on combining satellite data with field observations or measurements to identify effects such as waterlogging and reduced crop performance, and provide actionable information for farmers and water authorities. 

More information will be published soon

MORE CHALLENGES COMING

Additional challenges from participating organisations will be added as they are confirmed. 

Data and Tools

Teams will have access to Earth Observation data, platforms and other resources during the hackathon. More tools and challenge-specific datasets will be added as they are confirmed.

Satellite Data Portal

Access satellite data for the Netherlands through the Satellite Data Portal. Teams can use the available Earth Observation data to explore and develop approaches relevant to their challenge.

Open Data Space Lab (ODL)

Use the ODL to work with data and computational resources during the hackathon. 

Challenge-specific data

Some challenge owners may provide additional datasets, documentation or other resources relevant to their challenge. These will be added as the challenges are confirmed.

Additional tools & resources

Further datasets, platforms and technical resources from participating organisations will be announced ahead of the hackathon.

Mentors and Experts

 Get input from specialists across Earth Observation, water, data, technology, business and other fields relevant to the challenges. Mentors and experts will be available during the hackathon to answer questions and provide feedback while teams work. 

More mentors and experts will be added as they are confirmed.

1575288240440

Martijn Seijger

Groundstation.space
1730115840137

Andrei Bocin-Dumitriu

Groundstation.space
1692096848311 (1)

Joris Kruse

AIC4NL
1 NLSA HOOFD LOGO FC (2)

Netherlands Space Agency (NLSA)

 Expert to be confirmed 
foto_friso_lowres_v2-1

Friso van der Burg

Technical Product Owner at ODL

Expertise: Product development within the Gaia-X and Pontus-X ecosystem. Experienced in developing and maintaining the ODL marketplace, managing the onboarding of new pilots, and integrating parties into the ecosystem.
foto_willem_lowres_v2

Willem Morsink

Data Space Engineer at ODL

Expertise: Deployment and operation of data space infrastructure built on Pontus-X. Experienced in onboarding new pilots, setting up marketplace nodes, and integrating new parties into the ODL ecosystem.

Register as a participantBecome a mentor

Sponsors and Partners

Hackathon programme

Almost three days with plenty of time for teams to work, supported by challenge owners, mentors and experts. The programme concludes on Saturday with project presentations, the winner announcement and matchmaking with potential end users and relevant stakeholders.

Thursday · 1 October

16:00 Walk-in & registration
17:00 Kick-off, team formation & challenge introductions
18:00 Dinner
19:00 Teams start working
23:30 Venue closes 

Friday · 2 October

08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Working sessions & mentors
12:30 Lunch
18:00 Dinner
23:00 Approx. venue close 

Saturday · 3 October

08:00 Breakfast
Morning Final working session
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Project presentations
16:00 Jury evaluation
16:30 Winner announcement
17:00 Borrel & matchmaking with potential end users and relevant stakeholders 

 Programme is subject to minor changes. 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Participation

Free of charge · 18+

Participation in the Space & Water Nexus Hackathon is free of charge. Participants must be at least 18 years old at the start of the hackathon.

 

Teams

Minimum 3 people

Teams must consist of at least 3 people. There is no maximum team size, although we recommend teams of up to 7 people to keep collaboration manageable.

You can also register individually and form or join a team.

On-site & remote participation

At least 2 team members on site

Hybrid teams are allowed, but at least 2 members of each team must participate on site at CometLab.

Discord will be available for communication between teams and organisers, but we will not provide livestreams, Zoom connections or other dedicated infrastructure for remote participation.

Accommodation

Low-cost accommodation available

Shared accommodation is available for participants for a small contribution. Places are limited and can be requested during registration.

Further details will be shared with registered participants.

Food & drinks

Meals included

Meals and refreshments during the hackathon programme are provided free of charge for participants.

Venue & transport

CometLab · Noordwijk

The hackathon takes place at CometLab in Noordwijk. Parking is available at the venue, with nearby bus connections to and from Leiden Centraal.

Participants using the hackathon accommodation will have bikes provided free of charge for travel between the accommodation and CometLab. Other travel costs, including train and bus fares to and from Noordwijk, are at participants’ own expense and will not be reimbursed.

Elevate logo

enter the flow state

Ready to join the Space & Water Nexus Hackathon? Register with your existing team or individually. You don’t need to have your final team or challenge selected yet.

Register now

Do you have questions?

Join our info session on 23 September or contact us at hackathons@groundstation.space