AI-Enabled EO concepts for Civilian Protection
Join the Grand Marathon: Innovate for a Safer Future!
Join our Ask Me Anything Webinar on 6 November at 16:00 CET to ask all your questions about the ESA Grand Marathon.
GENERAL CONTEXT
Civilian populations in conflict and disaster zones are exposed to sudden, short-lived events: explosions, fires, toxic emissions, or flare-like signals marking renewed hostilities. These events often go undetected by conventional Earth Observation (EO) systems because they are too fast, too unpredictable, or generate too much data for timely processing.
ESA Φ-lab Grand Marathon 2025 is a new challenge inviting innovators from companies, agencies, NGO, and other forms of institutions, to design next-generation Earth Observation concepts dedicated to resilience and humanitarian support in conflict or disaster areas.
The aim is to move beyond traditional satellites and experiment with how EO can unlock faster, smarter crisis monitoring from space.
WHO IS THE GRAND MARATHON FOR?
Any startup, company, agency, NGO or institution developing Earth Observation solutions aimed at protecting civilians in disaster and public-safety contexts. Any stage of product development, from research to commercialisation, is eligible for the Marathon.
IDEAL SOULTIONS ARE:
- Compact, scalable, and field-ready, with a focus on technologies using AI-enabled EO concepts or methods to detect, characterise or confirm short-lived hazards such as explosions, fires, toxic emissions, rapid infrastructure damage, etc.
- Powered by AI/ML, on-board/edge processing, novel sensors or smart tasking, delivering near-real-time, trusted information layers for humanitarian agencies & civil protection actors
- Showing a clear potential for business & real-life applications
ELIGIBILITY:
- Applicants must be from an ESA member state (including Associate/Cooperating Members per current ESA rules)
- Open to research projects, companies of all types (from early-stage startups to established companies), agencies, NGO, and other forms of institutions
WHAT WILL YOU BENEFIT FROM?
SUBSTANTIAL PRIZE POOL
1st Runner – up to €215K
2nd Runner – up to €65K
3rd Runner – up to €15K
GLOBAL EXPOSURE
Pitch your solution to an international audience on the stage during the Hello Tomorrow Summit in Amsterdam (11–12 June 2026)
INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
Gain prestige and recognition by presenting at an upcoming official ESA Event
EXPERT COACHING
Receive exclusive coaching from Hello Tomorrow’s experts and refine your pitch
UNPARALLELED NETWORKING
Engage directly with ESA Φ-lab’s leading network of Earth Observation experts
ARE YOU DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS LINKED TO THE FOLLOWING TOPICS?
DATA COLLECTION
(SENSING & ACQUISITION)
Event-focused sensors
- Detection of heat flashes, fire fronts & and chemical/plume signatures (SO₂/NO₂/VOCs) with thresholds for ignition and emissions
- Identification of structural change, debris fields, surface deformation with ground/IoT inputs (gas, particulate, seismic, microphones) for data confirmation
Sensing platforms
- Tiered satellite coverage to persistent regional (HAPS) to rapid, high-res local (UAVs) for detection & verification in near-real time or within minutes
DATA ANALYSIS
(PROCESSING & FUSION)
Edge processing
- Prioritization of burst detection and quick triage to reduce alert times on low-latency inference models ran on-satellite, on-UAV or any edge computing device
Data fusion & smart information delivery
- Combination of optical/IR/SAR/RF data with in-situ streams to reduce error margins & raise reports confidence
- Creation of reports containing streamlined, actionable information for on-field & non-technical users
- Low-latency solution for false-alarms handling & recalls
DATA ELABORATION
(INSIGHTS & REPORTS)
AI/ML-based monitoring methods
- Detection of short-lived signals (flashes, hotspots, plumes) and small targets against noisy backgrounds, tracking their growth/decay over time
- Uncertainty estimation, confidence scores calibration, drift check or continual learning strategies to maintain models’ reliability across multiple geographies and sensors
Automated reporting & visualisation tools
- Smart tasking, event-driven workflows, and automated dissemination of alerts or risk maps
- Integration into humanitarian decision-support systems for rapid situational awareness
TIMELINE
The Grand Marathon is structured as a progressive competition with cumulable prizes, beginning on October 22nd (Km 0) and lasting until June 12th (Km 42). Each milestone marks a new stage of the challenge, just like checkpoints in a marathon.
Apply by January 4th
WHAT IS ESA Φ-LAB?
- ESA Φ-lab accelerates the future of Earth Observation (EO) through disruptive innovations & commercialisation actions by managing the full innovation cycle, from nurturing blue-sky concepts to delivering tangible impact across commercial, scientific, and NGO communities.
- By offering financial, technical, and business support, Φ-lab helps to bridge the gap between innovative ideas and the market by helping to scale up the commercialisation potential of projects.
Join the Grand Marathon: Innovate for a Safer Future!
Dive into our brochure for all the information you need
The 3 selected runners will be required to produce deliverables at every milestone:
Km 0-10: Application
Applicants will submit a 5–page business plan outlining the concept of the proposed idea
Km 10-30: First Deliverable
The 3 selected runners will create a detailed, 25-page proposal of the concept including a comprehensive business plan
Km 30-40: Second Deliverable
The 2 remaining runners will develop a first MVP of the proposed concept leveraging EO test data, including algorithms & AI models)
Km 40-42: Final Deliverable
The final runners will develop and showcase a high-fidelity version of the full solution, demonstrating real-case scenarios
The grand winner will be announced at Km 42 of the Marathon.
Contact our Project Coordinator, Federico Mentoni (federico.mentoni@hello-tomorrow.org) for any questions.