The US Space Agency (NASA) praised the prominent role and distinguished efforts made by the Bahrain Space Agency in organizing the “Space Applications Challenge 2025” competition, which contributed to the Kingdom of Bahrain achieving the highest growth rate in the world in the number of participants, as the increase rate reached about 80% compared to last year.
The competition witnessed participation in two locations: the Bahrain Polytechnic campus and the University of Bahrain campus, which reflects the great demand for this global scientific event. NASA also praised the professional performance of the Bahrain Space Agency, considering it the first agency in the world in quickly responding to NASA’s requirements among more than 2,800 regulatory centers that include a number of participating space bodies and agencies around the world.
In this context, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Asiri, CEO of the Bahrain Space Agency, said: NASA’s praise comes in appreciation of the great efforts made by Bahrain Space Agency members in preparing and organizing this global competition. We were keen to highlight the name of the Kingdom of Bahrain in this international event, and to enable the agency’s employees to acquire more knowledge and skills that contribute to developing their performance in their fields of work. The agency has also made great strides in enhancing national awareness of the importance of space and its sciences, and we will continue these efforts at an increasing pace year after year.”
He added that the Space Applications Challenge competition represents a distinguished opportunity to employ basic sciences, modern technologies and engineering, and develop the twenty-first century skills of the participants, in addition to enhancing opportunities for international cooperation between the participating teams to find innovative solutions to real challenges facing the space sector. He explained that the hackathon is held in cooperation with 15 space agencies from different countries of the world.
It is worth noting that the organization of the Space Applications Challenge 2025 in the Kingdom of Bahrain came in cooperation with the University of Bahrain and Bahrain Polytechnic as academic partners, and the Bahrain Society of Engineers as a professional partner, and cooperation was also carried out with the Ministry of Education and the Higher Education Council to motivate their members to participate. The competition witnessed an unprecedented global turnout, with the participation of more than 373,000 people in more than 2,800 locations representing 185 countries around the world, thus recording the largest participation in the history of the hackathon since its launch in 2012.
