NASA Space Apps Challenge 2026 · Athlone
HackAthlone
is back
Ireland’s biggest space hackathon. 48 hours at TUS Athlone, 13 to 15 November. Real NASA data, no space experience needed.
- Opens our event page on spaceappschallenge.org
- Sign in, or create a free Space Apps account
- Register for the Athlone local event
Until kick-offKick-off in
Introducing HackAthlone 2026
One weekend
One mission
Your team
HackAthlone is back for its fourth year: the Athlone chapter of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, the world’s largest annual space and science hackathon.
From Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November, the Engineering Building at TUS is yours for 48 hours. Form a team, pick a challenge set by NASA and its partner space agencies, and build something real with their open data.
Developers, designers, researchers, storytellers and first-timers all belong here.
Space agency partners
Data from
17 space agencies
NASA Space Apps partners with space agencies around the world. Alongside NASA’s open data, they share their own for this year’s challenges.
Why HackAthlone
What makes it
different
The full 48 hours
We hack from Friday evening to Sunday evening, overnight, with the Engineering Building reserved for the whole weekend.
Mentors in the room
Academic and industry mentors help you scope the problem, get unstuck and sharpen your pitch.
Fed and caffeinated
Meals, snacks and coffee all weekend. Bring a sleeping bag if you plan to stay over.
Prizes and global judging
Win goodies and a cash prize in Athlone, and get nominated for NASA Space Apps global judging.
No experience needed
You don’t need to be a coder or a space expert. Mixed teams of designers, researchers and storytellers often win.
Timeline
The road to
13 November
Open now
Register & team up
Sign up on spaceappschallenge.org and choose Athlone. Challenge summaries are live, so form or join a team.
Browse the challenges28 October
Full challenge details
NASA and its partner agencies publish everything your team needs for each challenge.
Fri 13 Nov · 17:00
Kick-off
Opening ceremony, Pitch-Fest and team formation.
Sat 14 Nov
Build day
Mentor hours, workshops and hacking through the night.
Sun 15 Nov
Pitch & awards
Final presentations, winners and the closing ceremony by 18:00.
After the event
Global judging
Our strongest projects go forward to NASA Space Apps global judging.
We’ll publish the full weekend schedule closer to the event.
Photo: TUS Athlone Engineering & Science Building by 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
The venue
Hosted at
TUS Athlone
The Engineering Building at the Technological University of the Shannon is ours for the full 48 hours, labs included.
- Engineering labs with software and hardware
- 3D printers for rapid prototyping
- VR and AR headsets for immersive projects
- A workspace for every team, with Wi-Fi and power
Engineering Building, TUS Athlone
TUS Athlone, Bunnavally, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 HD68, Ireland
Since 2023
Built in Athlone
Judged worldwide
Three editions so far. Every year more people sign up, and more Athlone projects reach NASA’s global judging.
- registrations
- 632
- teams
- 102
- projects submitted to NASA
- 69
- global nominations
- 9
2023 to 2025 editions combined. Source: official NASA Space Apps records.
Gallery
48 hours
in pictures
From Pitch-Fest to the podium, 2023 to 2025.
1st place · Cea-SAR
2nd place · Dilly Dally
3rd place · Debugonauts
Stories
In their
own words
What teams told us after the weekend.
I loved everything about the hackathon. I was inspired by the technology and amazed at how much people could build in just 48 hours, often with teammates they had just met.
It wasn’t just a place for creating unique and unheard-of ideas, but also a space to meet amazing people, gain knowledge from everyone, and simply feel happy to be part of such an incredible journey.
We were positively challenged by the SpaceApps hackathon and were very warmly supported throughout the whole event! The organizing team did an incredible job by providing food and shelter to everybody.
Everything was amazing! The vibes were great, the event was very well organized, and there were plenty of resources with incredibly helpful mentors.
Great Event, run very well with lots of opportunities to gain experience and make connections. Great experience for similar events in the future. Provided food and drinks and made sure everyone was satisfied!
It was truly an amazing experience. The event was very well organized, and the mentors were extremely helpful.
Story 1 of 6, from Green Guardians
FAQs
Good
questions
Getting to Athlone, staying over and what to pack.
What should I bring?
Your laptop, chargers and a photo ID. If you plan to stay overnight, a sleeping bag or pillow is a good idea too.
Is there accommodation nearby if I’m coming from outside Athlone?
HackAthlone doesn’t provide accommodation. Hotels nearby include the Sheraton, the Radisson Blu and Glasson Lakehouse, and you’ll find B&Bs in Athlone on sites like Booking.com. The Engineering Building stays open all weekend, so plenty of people hack through the night instead.
Where is TUS Athlone and how do I get there?
HackAthlone takes place in the Engineering Building, TUS Athlone, Bunnavally, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 HD68. Athlone is easy to reach by train, bus or car from Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork. If you come by train, the campus is about 3 km from Athlone station: take a taxi, or the A1 town bus, which runs from the station past the campus. The ATH1 bus also runs to TUS from Golden Island Shopping Centre. You’re welcome to drive too. Open in Google Maps.