Introduction

🚀 Welcome to the Starship Use Cases Hackathon!

Starship, a super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX, with its transformative potential, paves the way for humanity to reach new frontiers—whether it's the Moon, Mars, or beyond. We are steadfast in our belief of pushing the boundaries of what's possible, propelling ourselves to the stars.

At the Starship Use Cases Hackathon, our mission is simple yet profound: to inspire and empower space enthusiasts, engineers, and innovators to envision groundbreaking solutions for the future of space exploration.

🌟 We're excited to share several key highlights of this hackathon:

  • Curated Use Cases: We've carefully selected a range of engaging use cases that provide hackers with a solid foundation to build their innovative solutions on.
  • Prize Pool: We've put together a prize pool of $100,000 to reward and motivate hackers as they embark on their building journey.
  • Hacker Resources: Explore a curated selection of valuable tools to enhance your solution design, featuring a range of purpose-specific calculators.
  • Inspiring Workshops: Join us for inspiring workshops led by experienced professionals from the space industry. Gain valuable insights and knowledge to supercharge your hackathon experience.
  • Expert Feedback: Our panel of judges will offer constructive feedback to help hackers refine and enhance their solutions. It's a great opportunity for growth and improvement.
  • Collaboration Hub: Connect with fellow hackers on our platform! Build teams, exchange ideas, and inspire each other throughout the hackathon journey.

Join forces with fellow space buffs and embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Get ready to showcase your technical skills. Together, we will transform dreams of interstellar adventures into tangible reality.

Ad Astra! 🌠

Tap the "Register as a Hacker" button to join our hacker community, connect with fellow innovators, and receive the latest updates and hackathon reminders via email! 🚀

Contact Information

Timeline

  • Round 1

    • Submission Period: October 1, 2023 - January 31, 2024
    • Judging Period: Feb 1-24, 2024
    • Winner Announcement: Feb 28, 2024 (Check out more details on the winning projects in the Round 1 Results tab)

  • Round 2:

    • Submission Period: March 14 - July 31, 2024
      Note: Hackers can submit first and continue to refine and polish their solutions right up until the final deadline.
    • Pre-Screening Period: August 1-10, 2024
    • Judging Period: August 11-25, 2024
    • Winner Announcement: August 31, 2024
    • Project Live Demo: Optional for participants.
      Note: To facilitate these demo sessions, the DoraHacks team will be in touch with participating teams to arrange suitable timings.

Use Cases

Overview: From the Wikipedia page for SpaceX Starship, the lift capability of a fully reusable Starship is at least 100 tones to LEO. From there, lift capability drops significantly (only about 20 tonnes to GTO, for example), but the possibility of on-orbit refueling can provide the capability to lift 100 tonnes into essentially arbitrary trajectories, limited only by fuel availability. The payload bay is 8m in diameter and 17m long (although heavily tapered toward the nose). Considering this impressive lifting capacity, we've thoughtfully curated the unique use cases and open challenges below. These scenarios provide an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your engineering expertise and explore your imaginative potential as you create your design blueprints.

Note: For in-depth background and task description for each use case, head to the Use Cases tab.

Use Cases:

  • Delivery of Water to the Lunar Surface
  • Space-based Farming
  • Orbital Hotel
  • Artifact Collection
  • Orbital Fireworks
  • Planetary Defense System
  • Space Debris Cleanup
  • Collision Avoidance for Immobile Objects
  • Satellite Secure Digital ID
  • Add-on Passive Deorbit Hardware
  • LIDAR Constellation
  • Routers for Global Internet of Things
  • Buried Among The Stars
  • Climate Engineering the Easy Way
  • Metals from the Moon
  • Orbital Lab Bench
  • Storage of Sensitive Data in Space
  • Preserve the ISS
  • And more use cases to come!

Open Challenges:

  • Novel Satellite Constellations
  • Recreation Facilities for Space Hotel

Prize Details:

A total prize pool of $100,000 USD, comprising 2 award categories:

🏆 Top Honors: $10,000

🌟 Project Awards: $500 - $2,000 (Varies based on project quality)

There is no restriction on the number of winners in each category until the entire prize pool has been distributed. In case we don't have enough eligible projects to claim these rewards, the remaining prize pool will be rolled over to the next round of this hackathon or allocated to future Space hackathons.

Submission Requirements

  • Each submission should address a single use case or the open challenge.

  • Please submit a well-crafted design report that incorporates the provided technical constraints for each use case. Ensure it offers a comprehensive explanation of how your design aligns with the use case objectives and performance criteria. Your submission should reflect thoughtful consideration and attention to detail, demonstrating your engineering skills and capability.

  • Please feel free to include links to detailed reports (e.g., GitHub repo, Google Doc, or Google Drive folder) alongside the BUIDL page's description.

Tips for Hackers

1. Register as Hacker. Here's why and how:

  • You can stay updated and receive timely reminders about the hackathon.
  • Simply click the Register as a Hacker button at the top of this page.

2. Submit early. Here are several advantages:

  • Early submissions allow our DoraHacks team more time to find suitable technical support for your project.
  • You'll have more time to receive valuable feedback from judges that help you better polish your project.
  • Early submissions gain more visibility, attracting like-minded space enthusiasts and potential contributors to your project.

3. Participate in demo session. Here are several advantages:

  • The demo can provide judges with a clearer understanding of your submission, ultimately increasing your chances of winning a prize.
  • Participating teams may also benefit from valuable feedback provided by the judges after they have observed the demo. This feedback can offer insights into areas of improvement and refinement, helping you enhance your project's overall quality.

4. Showcase your background. Update your profiles:

  • BUIDL Profile: In the Team Information section, introduce yourself and your team members. Share your roles, titles, organizations, and highlight your skills. Don't forget to include your social media links.
  • Hacker Profile: Share detailed information about your personal experience, skills, and areas of interest. This will help like-minded hackers or supporters find you in the Hackers tab and connect with you easily!

5. Connect with fellow hackers. Here's how:

  • Engage in discussions by posting in the Discuss tab. Use it to create teams, share ideas, and motivate each other during the hackathon journey.
  • Explore the Hackers tab to connect with hackers who share your interests. You can send direct messages on DoraHacks!

Judging Criteria

General Judging Criteria:

  • Design Approach and Innovation - How creatively does the submission address the specific challenges presented by the use case?
  • Scientific and Technical Merit - How effectively does the submission incorporate scientific principles and technical expertise into the design?
  • Feasibility of Design - Is the proposed technical approach cost-effective? How well does the team identify and address potential risks in their design submission? To what degree does the team demonstrate an understanding of practical implementation challenges?
  • Completeness of Design - How comprehensive and thorough is the engineering design?

Use Case-Specific Judging Criteria: For each use case, please include technical aspects relevant to that specific use case. These criteria should align with the specific requirements and constraints of each use case.

Judging Panel

Stay tuned for more Round 2 judging panel announcements! 🌟

Frequently Asked Questions

  • I'm currently working on space-related projects not listed in the Starship use cases. Can I still get funding and support from DoraHacks?
    Yes! We're all about supporting space tech innovators. Check out our Space Resources and Exploration Grant program. We've already supported eleven great early-stage projects. The grant page provides all the details on the grant program, our past grantees, and the workshops and demo sessions we've hosted. Submissions are open all year round, so feel free to submit your project anytime.

  • What happens to my intellectual property?
    DoraHacks does not claim any intellectual property (IP) rights from the Teams’ submissions. All trade secrets, copyrights, patent rights, and software rights will remain with each respective Team.

  • Is there a way to keep the document confidential and not make it public?
    If you have documents that you prefer not to make public, you can send them directly to us. If the information is confidential and you do not wish to share it, you can provide a general explanation in your submission instead.

  • Is there a limit to the number of participants on a team?
    A team can have as many contributing members as needed.

  • How can I find more teammates for the hackathon?
    To form a team, we suggest utilizing our Discuss board. Here's a quick guide:

    • Introduce Yourself: Create a post sharing your skills and what you're seeking in potential teammates. Highlight your strengths and what excites you about the hackathon.
    • Connect: Engage with fellow hackers by commenting on their posts or sending them a direct message. Don't be shy; this is your chance to build a dream team!

Open for Collaboration

At DoraHacks, we believe in the power of collaboration and innovation in the field of space. We are actively looking for individuals and organizations in the space tech sector who share our passion and want to join us. Whether you can provide tech support, serve on a judge panel, or offer financial sponsorship, we welcome your involvement!

Here's how you can participate:

  • Open-Resource Communities: If you belong to an open-resource community dedicated to space tech, let’s team up to organize workshops, seminars, and other collaborative events.
  • Experienced Professionals: If you are an experienced professional in space-related fields, we warmly invite you to join our judge panel, review groundbreaking projects, and connect with talented minds in inspiring workshops.
  • Sponsorship and Partnerships: If you or your organization is interested in sponsoring our initiatives or forming a partnership with us, we would be delighted to discuss further details.
  • Media Partners: We extend a warm welcome to media partners who want to showcase the latest and most innovative projects for Starship use cases. Gain exposure to cutting-edge advancements and be part of the space revolution!

Contact

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions, would like to explore collaboration opportunities, or share any additional ideas you may have.

About DoraHacks

DoraHacks is a global hackathon organizer and one of the world's most active developer incentive platforms. It creates a global hacker movement in space tech, blockchain and quantum computing, and provides a wide range of toolkits to help developers around the world team up and fund their ideas and BUIDLs via hackathons, bounties, grants, idea networks, developer games and more.

By far, more than 6,000 startup teams from the DoraHacks community have received over $40 million in grants and other forms of contributions from supporters worldwide. A large number of open source communities, companies and blockchain ecosystems are actively using Dora's infrastructure (http://dorahacks.io) for open source funding and community governance.