Join the EUDIS Defence Hackathon on 17-19 October 2025!

On 17–19 October 2025, the EUDIS Defence Hackathon Netherlands will take place at CometLab, NL Space Campus in Noordwijk. Over one weekend, innovators from across the Netherlands come together to create solutions for some of Europe’s toughest defence and aerospace challenges. With a prize pool of €5,000, winning in Noordwijk means your team moves on to the European mentorship programme and gets the chance to pitch directly to EU Member State representatives. This is more than a competition — it’s an entry point into Europe’s defence innovation network. The Dutch edition is organised by Groundstation.Space together with the Ministry of Defence, NL Space Campus, SBIC Noordwijk, TNO, NLR, and InnovationQuarter. Security Delta (HSD) is proud to be endorsing partner.

Register now – deadline 10 October, 09:00 CEST

EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS)

The EUDIS Defence Hackathon is part of the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), an initiative supported by the European Defence Fund (€7.3 billion, 2021–2027). Its goal: open the defence sector to students, researchers, SMEs, start-ups, and non-traditional players. Eight countries will host simultaneous hackathons: the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Each local winner receives mentoring and a chance to compete in the EU-level finals.

It empowers young innovators across Europe to tackle real-world challenges in the fields of space and defence. Through hands-on problem-solving, participants work on cutting-edge topics such as autonomous systems, secure communications, energy resilience, cyber defence, and advanced aerospace technologies. Each edition invites students and early-career professionals to co-create practical solutions that respond to the evolving needs of European security and technological sovereignty

Challenges

The Autumn 2025 edition of the hackathon will be structured around a central theme, subdivided into three distinct challenges. Each challenge will be supported by local organisers through makeathon capabilities, enabling rapid prototyping and hands-on development in both hardware and software domains.

With adversaries developing anti-satellite weapons, orbital jammers, and cyberattacks, Europe's space assets (navigation, communications, and Earth observation) are under threat. An interesting challenge of the Dutch edition in regards to our community is 'challenge 1'. It addresses the need for solutions that contribute to protect space assets from fast-developing threats through detection and analysis capacity (support to space domain awareness) and countermeasures.

Among others, participants could:

• Simulate innovative detection systems (in orbit, from ground),
• Develop data processing solutions, APIs, algorithms, visualisation interfaces, prototypes for anomaly / threat detection and analysis in space,
• Develop protective technologies,
• Simulate countermeasure systems (defensive or offensive).

Click here to read more about all the challenges.

Information Session

On 17 September 2025 15:00-16:30 CET, an information webinar will be given for participants. During this session, you will learn more about the hackathon concept, practical details, and what opportunities await participants – from local prizes to EU-wide recognition and mentoring. On the agenda is:

• Welcome by CIVITTA
• Opening words by EUDIS
• Key note speaker
• Deep-dive into challenges
• Timeline
• How to apply
• Meeting the Local Organisers
• Q&A

 Click here to register for the information webinar.

Registration

The EUDIS Defence Hackathon is designed to lower barriers into the defence sector and connect innovators to real opportunities. Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or experienced professional, if you can design solutions for space and defence, this is your moment. Build in Noordwijk. Learn from the best. Pitch across Europe.

Are you interested in participating in the EUDIS Defence Hackathon 2025? Click here for more information and to register!