Like any remote system, spacecraft like satellites and rockets need to stream significant amounts of data to mission control, and for a dashboard to present it as useful information. The process of using sensors to measure the data is called ‘data acquisition; and the process of streaming it back to base is called ‘telemetry’.

Today, telemetry is used everywhere. Racing teams use telemetry to monitor and adjust the performance of the car and to provide feedback for driver training; your smart watch records your vital signs throughout the day providing you with a dashboard to track things like your step count, calories burned and heart rate; mining sites even use telemetry to orchestrate highly autonomous mining sites, with activities undertaken by robots hundreds of kilometers away.

Your challenge is to design and build a telemetry system for spacecraft. You will need to consider the kinds of data you’ll need to measure, the sensors needed to record it, how to store the data, how it can be transferred securely. A winning team will not only produce a technology prototype, but will be able to make a compelling business case for a spacecraft telemetry product/service.

Top competing teams will win an opportunity for their technology to be flown and evaluated in zero gravity on a Beings Systems parabolic flight, as a first step to validate that your system can really operate in the space environment.

1. Build a prototype of a telemetry product or service that you believe would be useful for customers operating spacecraft in Earth-orbit and beyond.

2. Prepare a 3-minute video demonstrating and pitching your proposed solution. You can follow any narrative structure you prefer, but one you could follow is walking through the stages of: What is the problem? What should the solution resemble? What is your technology to realise this? What’s your proposed business model? Who are your first target customers, and how do you know they really want your solution? What’s your assessment of the market opportunity? What does the competitive landscape look like? Who is your A-team and why are you the best to build this? What would come next to make it real? What would you need to do that?

NOTE: Teams may perform background research before the event, but any group that starts building before the 48 hour timer starts will be disqualified.

First Prize

• $1000 cash
• $2000 worth of units in our 2022 fund (i.e. targeting 12 space tech investments)
• Moonshot t-shirts – 60 minutes of free Moonshot coaching
• A copy of ‘Space is open for business’ by Robert Jacobsen

Second Prize

• $500 cash
• $1000 worth of units in our 2022 fund (i.e. targeting 12 space tech investments)
• Moonshot t-shirts – 60 minutes of free Moonshot coaching
• A copy of ‘Space is open for business’ by Robert Jacobsen

Third Prize

• Moonshot t-shirts
• 60 minutes of free Moonshot coaching
• A copy of ‘Space is open for business’ by Robert Jacobsen

Challenge Sponsor Prize

Top competing teams will win an opportunity for their technology to be flown and evaluated in zero gravity on a Beings Systems parabolic flight, as a first step to validate that your system can really operate in the space environment.

Technology

• You’re building a Minimum Viable Product, you don’t need to build a satellite communications system. You could use a Bluetooth micro-controller to simulate the radio side, for example.
• For building a data store and telemetry dashboard, we’re working closely with Microsoft Azure to provide you with free cloud credits and will have technical support available to talk to.

Solution

• You can focus more of less on different aspects of the solution space. For example, perhaps you’re better creating a SaaS space telemetry dashboard than building a hardware telemetry system – that’s fine. Although, if you do the former, it would be helpful to demonstrate that you can record at least dummy data from a real remote sensor to your service.