RiverHacks < > NASA Space Apps Challenge
🚀 RiverHacks × NASA Space Apps Challenge
Part of the World’s Largest Global Space & Science Hackathon
📍 Austin Community College – Rio Grande Campus (1212 Rio Grande St, Austin, TX 78701)
🗓 October 4–5, 2025
Get ready to explore space, build with purpose, and make your mark at RiverHacks × NASA Space Apps Challenge — Austin’s most exciting space & science hackathon for students, storytellers, and future explorers.
Whether you’re a College Student, K–12 student, an educator, an engineer, or a dreamer, this two-day in-person experience connects curious minds from across Central Texas to solve real-world problems using open NASA data.
🛰 Dual-Track Hackathon Experience
Whether you dive into NASA’s global challenges or our RiverHacks originals, or both... the countdown is on ⚡
🚀 Official NASA Space Apps Global Challenge Track
👉 Explore them here: https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/challenges/
Take on one of 18 official challenges using real open data from NASA and its international space partners.
🌌 RiverHacks Inspiration Paths
Six original, locally-developed inspiration paths for exploring life in space from all angles — wellness, design, coordination, ai and more.
These tracks do not require NASA datasets, making them perfect for creative, interdisciplinary, or beginner-friendly teams. We’ve changed this year’s hackathon format to keep it simple and practical for RiverHacks participants.
One Main Challenge: 🚀 Build Something Great!
🌌 Get ideas flowing with this six inspiration paths :
1. Mind of the Astronaut – Mental health, nutrition, rest, routines
2. On-Ship Ecosystem – Water, waste, food system software
3. AI for Space – Mission coordination & exploration AI
4. Space Play & Fitness – Movement & recreation beyond Earth
5. AI Space Search Engine – ISS-friendly public data search
6. Spacesuit AR – Navigation & daily routine support for lunar missions
Prizes & Judging:
•💰 RiverHacks Top 3 Overall:
🥇 1st Place: $3,000
🥈 2nd Place: $1,500
🥉 3rd Place: $500
• NASA Space Apps Top 3: 🥇 1st 🥈 2nd 🥉 3rd place recognition (no major cash prizes but NASA recognition and the 🌐 ABILITY TO PASS TO NASA GLOBAL WINNING AWARDS 🌐)
• 🤖 Bold Innovation in Search & AI Award: Anonymous special jury will select one winner and that will decide how to allocate the $5,000 in bonuses.
📊 Judging Criteria:
RiverHacks Projects will be evaluated on:
Technical Depth & Innovation – Complexity, originality, completeness
Value & Impact – Problem understanding, relevance, feasibility
Build Quality & UX – Reliability, clarity, accessibility, documentation
Presentation & Communication – Storytelling, explanation, live demo
NASA Space Apps Projects will be evaluated on:
Project Potential Impact (Does it address a major or a minor problem? (To what extent does it inspire others?))
Creativity (Does it demonstrate innovation? Novel Concept? Does it improve something in a meaningful way?)
Relevance (Does the project address the challenge? Does it integrate NASA resources well?)
Presentation (Does it convey solution, structure and propose a compelling idea to the audience?)
Bonus Opportunities:
Teams can opt into NASA Space Apps Challenge (for global recognition), while also apply for RiverHacks one main challenge (🚀 Build Something Great!) and be ALSO considered for the Bold Innovation in Search & AI Award (sponsor-selected, up to $5,000) all with one project, if the project qualifies for it!
🗓 Key Dates
NASA Track Reveal → August 21, 2025
Team Formation (In case you don't have a team already!) + Event Begins → October 4 @ 9:00 AM CST
Submissions Close → October 5 @ 1:00 PM CST
🎁 What to Expect
Solve official NASA challenges or build from bold, original RiverHacks main challenge: Build something great!
Work with real open datasets
Free meals, snacks, swag, and mentorship
Diverse teams, no experience required
Prizes, recognition, and global visibility
🤝 Sponsors & Community
RiverHacks <> NASA Space Apps is powered by SerpApi
SerpApi is a real-time API to access Google search results. We handle proxies, solve captchas, and parse all rich structured data for you. Participants will have access to free credits for the tool!
We also want to thank our main sponsors:
Thunderbird
Girlstart
Impact Forward Club
Makerville.tech
Wyatt Consulting LLC
And wonderful collaborators like
SWIFT
Loop Message
ACM at ACC
And a Special Thanks to CGCS (Center for Government and Civic Service) for providing such an amazing venue in the heart of Austin, TX.
👀 Want to sponsor RiverHacks?
Click here or email us at stefano.casafrancalaos@austincc.edu
Join the mission. Think big. Build bold.
👉 Register now to secure your spot.