Space For Planet Earth Challenge Opened: Addressing Climate Change For NZ, Australia And The Pacific Islands

Last night (2 August), the Mayor of Christchurch Hon. Lianne Dalziel opened the “Space for Planet Earth” Challenge at the Turanga Christchurch Library. Also speaking were US. Embassy representative Wes Jeffers, Xerra Senior Scientist Duncan Steel, and other collaborators on video from U.S. earth observation satellite Company Planet, and the Allen Coral Atlas project in collaboration with National Geographic. The Challenge is powered by Christchurch based social enterprise SpaceBase Limited.

Mayor Dalziel Opens Space for Planet Earth

The full Opening event livestream can be found here:

https://youtu.be/eZ6xZlFiB1E

The regional space prize competition will run from August to February 2022 to apply satellite data to address climate change problems for New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Applications from the region are open to both university/startups and high school students. For the universityl level, the problem statement focuses on Carbon Sequestration. Using satellite data, in combination with other data sources, help develop verifiable methods to measure carbon sequestration on land and in coastal areas. This could include improving the measurement of carbon sequestration in forests, native bush, pastures, wetlands, or coastal zones or monitoring the change in extend of carbon sequestration zones. For the high school category, the problem statement focuses on Coral Health. Help Improve the monitoring of coral health changes due to climate change using satellite technology.

We have partnered with leading Earth-observation, remote sensing company Planet to sponsor and share their data with teams participating in this challenge. The 6 month long competition will include training and mentoring teams to analyse data, and prototyping on solutions that can develop into implementable solutions, products and services.

The challenge is also an opportunity to educate the general public on the seriousness of climate change issues in the region while learning about the economic development opportunities of leveraging space technologies. Winners will receive up to $30k in cash prize, mentorship, and data vouchers to further develop their solutions. The competition is open to residents of New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. For more information, go to SpaceforEarth.org

SpaceBase Limited is a New Zealand based education and consulting social enterprise, whose mission is to democratise access to space for everyone. SpaceBase is creating equal opportunity to leverage space technologies to solve problems on Earth, by catalysing space ecosystems in developing and emerging countries, starting in New Zealand. Since its incorporation in 2017, it has collaborated with economic development agencies, local governments, and advocacy groups to deliver over 100 educational presentations and workshops; two national space and aerospace competitions, as well as helping birth space communities and organizations locally and globally. SpaceBase created a platform for the NZ Aerospace Directory and a free course, Catalysing a Space Industry in Your Region, for anyone interested in creating a local space industry. Recently, it delivered the very first International Space University Executive Space Course for Asia Pacific.

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