ESA XR HackathonESA XR Hackathon 2027
A hybrid innovation event where university students, industry experts and XR developers team up with ESA to build XR solutions for space applications.
Mission brief
Build modular ESA XR Plugin Components and XR space projects, and show how quickly impactful XR tools can be made. Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality solutions are welcome.
Any student, artist or professional enthusiastic about space, simulation, digital twins, game development, extended reality, 3D modelling, UX design, data visualisation or AI is welcome to join.
The first phase runs online. The final challenge and award ceremony take place at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Venue details
Build modular ESA XR Plugin Components online, then use the best ones in concrete space use cases onsite, showing how the ESA XR Plugin boosts and streamlines XR development for space.
Use of AI. AI tools are welcome to help you code, design and create. Original and handcrafted content, such as your own 3D models, artwork, sound and code, will also be valued by the jury.
Partners
Partner with ESA to support the next generation of XR talent for space. One package is available per tier.
Interested in sponsoring the ESA XR Hackathon? Contact us at xr@esa.int. In-kind support may also be considered.
* Supporter tier excluded. All branding, speaking, judging, mentoring and onsite activities are subject to organiser approval, programme fit and venue requirements.
Phase 1 · Online
Teams design and prototype ESA XR Plugin Components for one of seven hack tracks. The best-developed Components earn their teams a place at the Onsite Finale at ESA ESTEC.
Choose your challenge
These are the main topics the hackathon covers. Each developer or team can develop one or multiple ESA XR Plugin Components related to these tracks.
Build immersive 3D, data-driven simulations of spacecraft systems. Connect real-time telemetry with XR to simulate spacecraft behaviour for early mission design and testing.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Develop XR tools for mission control. Help operators visualise, command and interact with spacecraft and mission data in real time.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Design XR systems for astronaut training and human-robot interaction in future exploration missions.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Create XR tools to explore astronomical and scientific datasets in new ways, making complex data intuitive and interactive.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Reimagine how scientists and analysts visualise and analyse Earth data using XR.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Develop XR systems for monitoring and responding to space debris and planetary defence scenarios.
| Component to develop | Description |
|---|---|
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
| Component name | Short description of the Component to develop. |
Not tied to a single domain, and with no predefined Components: propose your own idea. Open Track Components can be for general XR interaction, user experience (UX) or space-related use cases, as long as they are useful across ESA XR Plugin projects. They can be used in any of the XR space projects at the Onsite Finale.
Prize
The teams behind the best-developed Components are invited to the Onsite Finale at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk (28–30 April, up to 100 guests), with support for their travel and accommodation.
Your guides
The online phase starts on 1 March with two online workshops to get every team up to speed: the ESA XR Plugin in the morning and the hack tracks in the afternoon. After that, our technical mentors help all teams with the ESA XR Plugin, Unreal Engine and OpenXR.
In the morning, a hands-on introduction to the ESA XR Plugin: how to set it up in Unreal Engine, how its Components work, and how to create your own Component for the hackathon.
In the afternoon, the track mentors present the hack tracks and the Components to develop, share the context behind each one and answer your first questions.
After the workshops. From 1 March onwards, all communication with the technical and track mentors happens in the forum. Ask your questions on the board that fits them best, and the mentors will reply there.
Phase 2 · Onsite
The winning teams of the online phase meet at ESA ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. It is ESA's largest site and its technical heart. Together, teams combine the selected Components into concrete space use cases, showing how the ESA XR Plugin boosts and streamlines XR development for space.
Rules of engagement
Choose your mission
At the Onsite Finale, teams combine the selected Components into one of these XR space projects. Each project brings together one or more hack tracks around a concrete ESA use case.
This project brings together science and human & robotic exploration. What makes it unique: its use cases are built for the Mixed Reality Facility (MRF), an adapted Meta Quest 3 headset that has been sent to the International Space Station. For science, XR can guide astronauts through experiments on board and help study how humans interact with virtual content in microgravity. Your project could become an XR application used by astronauts in space!
More details will be revealed during the Onsite Finale.
This project focuses on space safety. Low Earth orbit is getting crowded: tens of thousands of tracked objects and more than a million debris fragments larger than 1 cm orbit the Earth, each able to damage or destroy an active satellite. Every collision creates more debris, putting the satellites we rely on every day at risk. XR can help operators understand this complex 3D environment, assess collision risks and make faster decisions.
More details will be revealed during the Onsite Finale.
This project combines engineering & digital twin with operations. Teams work on the digital twin of a humanoid robot being deployed from Argonaut, ESA's lunar lander. On the Moon, the robot supports the deployment of modular experiments and the preparation of a future lunar base, while operators plan, monitor and control the mission in XR.
More details will be revealed during the Onsite Finale.
This project focuses on Earth observation. Teams build XR tools to review satellite data collaboratively, helping scientists and decision-makers fight climate change and respond to disasters such as floods, wildfires and earthquakes, where a shared understanding of the situation can save time and lives.
More details will be revealed during the Onsite Finale.
Judging
Onsite projects are judged by ESA XR experts together with space XR industry experts on:
How relevant and well-defined the project's topic and purpose are.
A solid, professional development structure.
Potential for adoption in the space field.
Prizes
Prize amounts will be revealed in 2027
For the project that best combines purpose, quality and potential impact on space activities.
The most innovative experience or functionality.
Best integration of Components into an application.
Best user experience and design.
Performance, stability, code quality and architecture.
Greatest impact for ESA and space activities.
Venue & travel
The Onsite Finale and award ceremony take place at ESA ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre and ESA's largest site, at the southern tip of Noordwijk.
Dates
28–30 April
Fly to Amsterdam Schiphol. From there:
The ESTEC shuttle bus runs between Schiphol, ESTEC and hotels.
A taxi takes about 30 minutes.
Or take the train to Leiden Centraal (about 15 minutes), then bus 400.
Travel to Leiden Centraal, then take bus 400 to ESTEC (about 30 minutes).
Line 400 (Leiden Centraal – ESTEC) stops at "Katwijk, ESTEC", in front of the Gatehouse.
Line 385 (Den Haag – Sassenheim) stops at "Schorpioen/Rijnsoever", about 300 m from the gate.
Plan your trip on 9292.nl.
From Amsterdam: A4 towards Den Haag, then A44. Exit Noordwijk-Voorhout and follow the "ESA ESTEC" signs.
From Den Haag: A44 towards Amsterdam, exit 8 (Leiden), N206 towards Katwijk/Haarlem, exit Katwijk Noord, then follow the white "ESA ESTEC" signs.
Full directions on esa.int: How to get to ESTEC.
Detailed timings will be shared with the invited teams.
Forum
Discuss in threads with other participants and the XR mentors, or find answers to common questions.
Forum
Pick a board, post your question and reply in threads. Sign in with GitHub to take part.
Forum coming soon
Discussions will open here shortly. Until then, email your question to xr@esa.int.
Discussions are hosted on GitHub Discussions via giscus. Posting needs a GitHub account, and GitHub's terms and privacy statement apply. For private questions, email xr@esa.int.
FAQ
A hybrid innovation event to speed up the development and validation of Extended Reality (XR) solutions for space applications. Participants build modular ESA XR Plugin Components online, and the best teams build full XR space projects at the Onsite Finale.
University students, industry professionals and XR developers interested in applying XR to the space sector can join the online phase. The Onsite Finale at ESA ESTEC is by invitation only, for the winning teams of the online phase (up to 100 guests).
To get the ESA XR Plugin you must register on the European Space Software Repository (ESSR) with an email from an EU-affiliated organisation.
No. You can register on your own. During the online phase we encourage participants to form mixed teams based on background and skills, and we will help you find one.
The ESA XR Plugin is built on Unreal Engine and OpenXR and runs on Windows 11. Make sure your Unreal Engine version matches the one required by the plugin. It supports both desktop and XR applications, and it is hardware-agnostic.
ESA wants to build on common building blocks to reach ambitious goals in the long term. To focus its efforts, a single engine was selected for the ESA XR Plugin. Unreal Engine was chosen for legacy reasons.
This does not stop companies working with ESA from using Unity or other game engines. The ESA XR Plugin is an optional tool to streamline XR development and not a requirement to do business with ESA.
Register on the ESSR, then email xr@esa.int to request access. See the ESA XR Plugin page for details.
A modular building block that can be added, removed or modified in any ESA XR Plugin project, for example Menu, Movement, Multiplayer or Procedures. In the online phase, your team designs and prototypes a new Component linked to one of the tracks.
From 1 to 15 April, the ESA XR Competence Centre and experts from ESA directorates evaluate all Components submitted during the online phase (1–31 March). Only these winning teams are invited to the Onsite Finale at ESA ESTEC (up to 100 guests), with support for their travel and accommodation.
The Onsite Finale runs from 28 to 30 April. ESA experts propose sample space projects built around the winning Components. Teams can reshuffle, pick a project, and build for two days. On the last morning each team pitches and demos, followed by the award ceremony.
Contributors to the ESA XR Marketplace keep intellectual property and commercialisation rights over their Components. The full hackathon terms will be published with registration.
The Onsite Finale takes place from 28 to 30 April at ESA ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, the Netherlands. See the map on the Onsite Finale page.
Attendance is by invitation only: the winning teams of the online phase, up to 100 guests.
// No matching questions. Ask in the forum instead.
Developers
An optional standard framework designed by ESA to streamline efforts, avoid redundancies, and focus on advancing XR solutions for space applications.
It is a modular, building-blocks solution made with Unreal Engine and OpenXR, designed to be free, lightweight, easy to use, hardware-agnostic and focused on interaction.
Building blocks
The tool supports both desktop and XR applications. Its Components are modular and inter-compatible, so you can add, remove or modify them as needed. Click a Component to watch its video.
Be part of the ESA XR Plugin by creating your own Components. Contributors keep intellectual property and commercialisation rights. Check the hackathon's tracks for more information.
The ESA XR Plugin is distributed under the ESA Community License. To get it, register on the European Space Software Repository (ESSR) with an EU-affiliated organisation email, then email xr@esa.int to request access.
Make sure your Unreal Engine version matches the one required by the ESA XR Plugin.