The ESA Acceleration Days, are an initiative by the European Space Agency supported by Sopra Steria Belgium. Modelled after fast-paced competition formats such as hackathons and innovation sprints, these in-person events bring together top teams to advance space innovation and address Europe’s most pressing issues. 

One of the upcoming events is an innovation sprint on ‘Accelerate Crisis Preparedness’, which will take place from June 30 to July 4, 2025, at the ESA ESEC site in Redu, Belgium. The event is open to SMEs, startups, industry players from ESA Member States. Call-out to innovators to harness the power of space – from satellite navigation and communications to geospatial intelligence – for mass evacuation preparedness, starting from a concrete use case: the mass evacuation of a stadium affected by a crisis. In co-design with ESA, Safe.Brussels, and the Police of Brussels South, this 5-day sprint aims to foster the creation of bold, user-driven and AI-powered solutions that enhance crowd management and mass evacuation in case of emergency or crisis. 

Applications are now open until 9 June 2025.
Participation of multidisciplinary teams of 6-8 members, aged 18 or older.