Nov 14–15, 2026
Five UAE cities.
One global hackathon.
NASA Space Apps Challenge comes to the Emirates. 48 hours, open NASA data, and a room full of people figuring it out together. Free, and open to everyone.
What is Space Apps?
A global hackathon
The world's largest annual hackathon: 190+ countries building with open NASA data over one weekend.
Anyone can join
Coders, designers, storytellers, students, teachers, hobbyists. No experience required — really.
Five UAE cities
UWR hosts five official Local Events across the emirates, each with its own venue and community.
Pick your city
Each event is its own official NASA Space Apps Local Event, with its own registration page and community.
The five-city cluster
How the community
actually runs
This cluster is initiated by the first Space Apps community of the UAE. We equip the execution of the programme end to end — hosting orientations, setting up bootcamps, providing mentorship assistance, and finally hosting the physical event so every emirate experiences Space Apps in full-fledged mode.
01
Orientations
We open each city with a free orientation session — what Space Apps is, how the weekend runs, and how to show up prepared even if you have never hacked before.
02
Bootcamps
Hands-on bootcamps across the cluster: working with open NASA datasets, rapid prototyping, storytelling and pitching. Beginners and returning teams train side by side.
03
Mentorship
Engineers, researchers, designers and educators from our partner communities are matched to teams for guidance before and during the challenge weekend.
04
The physical event
Finally, all five cities host the full Space Apps experience in person on Nov 14–15 — one cluster, five venues, one global hackathon weekend.
Making this possible
Partner communities & ambassadors
Tech, robotics, space and maker communities co-hosting sessions across the five emirates.
Partner community slot
Co-host · orientations
Abu Dhabi
Partner community slot
Co-host · bootcamps
Ajman
Partner community slot
Mentor network
Ras Al Khaimah
Partner community slot
Outreach
Fujairah
Partner community slot
Volunteer crew
Umm Al Quwain
Your community here
Open slot — get in touch
Want your community, school or name on this list? hello@firstrobotics.ae
Why take part
You don't need a team, a plan, or a computer science degree. You need one weekend and a bit of curiosity. Everything else — mentors, data, snacks, teammates — happens in the room.
- Free to join, everywhere in the UAE
- No experience required
- Mentors and workshops on site
- Certificates for every submitted project
Ready when you are
Registration is handled on the official NASA Space Apps site. All five UAE city pages are live — pick yours and reserve an orientation spot.