Kerala Startup UWR is Organizer of World’s Largest NASA Space Apps Challenge

KOCHI:
Kerala-based education technology startup Unique World Robotics (UWR) became the largest global organizer of the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2025, billed as the world’s largest hackathon for space and earth science innovations.

UWR is a registered startup under the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

The feat comes after UWR organised this year 22 regional events across India, UAE and Europe. Out of the 16 events held in India, eight were in Kerala.

A total of 15,308 registrations, 2,276 teams and over 1,200 projects were submitted from UWR-organized centres. As much as 13.42 per cent of the total 1,14,094 registrations and 13.5 per cent of the 16,860 teams globally were through UWR. “This is a remarkable achievement,” said company founder Banson Thomas George.

The competitions were held in various fields such as storytelling, software development, astrophysics, agriculture and space exploration.

For the first time in history, two teams from Kerala made it to the top 45 global finalists, making it from 16,860 teams the world over. ‘Team Meteor Wrestlers’, comprising five second-year Computer Science students from Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology in Kochi, and ‘Team Celesta’, comprising six students from St Joseph’s College of Engineering and Technology in Palai achieved the feat (participating in the competition held in Kanjirappally in Kottayam district).

In 2023 at Thrissur, UWR kicked off the NASA Space Apps Challenge by organizing the largest regional event in India. The startup was able to organize the largest regional event in the world consecutively in 2023 and 2024.

The 2025 edition was organized in collaboration with prominent government and partners such as KSUM, K-Space, Kerala Space Park, IEDC, ASAP, KS CS TE, K-Disk, Astro Kerala, Mulleren, Algon, ADC. The main venues were Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, DC School of Management and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram and Jyothi Engineering College near Thrissur, besides Kannur University and SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore.

UWR was started with the aim of turning curiosity into opportunity, according to George. NASA Space Apps Challenge was brought to Kerala to connect local talent with the international space sector, he added.

The project, in 2022, had hardly 150 participants from Kerala. “Today, it is a matter of pride that more than 13 per cent of the global participation is from our state,” George said.

More than 10,000 people participate in this program every year. “This achievement will fuel the goal of enabling the next generation to engage confidently with the global space ecosystem,” he added.