MATLAB in Space

Build the autonomy that keeps deep-space missions alive

When a spacecraft is 20 light-minutes from Earth, nobody on the ground can fix a problem in time. Signals arrive buried in noise, carriers drift, and a single failed CO₂ scrubber can cascade into a habitat emergency before mission control even sees the alert.

At Matlab in Space Hackathon, you'll build the software that handles these problems on its own, using real NASA and ESA spacecraft data.

Tracks

Track 1: Deep-Space Communication & Signal Intelligence
Build agents that find, clean, and decode weak radio signals with no human tuning. Think adaptive filtering, re-acquiring a signal after dropouts and frequency hops, and turning raw bits into readable telemetry.

Track 2: Energy, Power Grid & Closed-Loop Life Support
Keep a lunar or Martian habitat alive. Detect anomalies in real spacecraft telemetry, predict battery failure before it happens, and design power systems that shed load intelligently when things break.

What makes it special

• Real mission data: telemetry from NASA's SMAP satellite and Curiosity rover, NASA battery aging data, and ESA's satellite anomaly benchmark
• Real problems: both tracks come from challenges space agencies are actively working on
• Open to all skill levels: signal processing, ML, controls, or just curiosity about space