• Approved

Product Service Code: AR11 - SPACE R&D SERVICES; SPACE FLIGHT, RESEARCH AND SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES; BASIC RESEARCH
NAICS Code:
541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

New Computing Innovations to Advance Regenerative Agriculture
Rapid advances in commercial space, artificial intelligence, and edge computing are transforming what is possible for Earth observation. By pushing more intelligence onboard, missions can move from passively collecting data to actively interpreting and responding to changing surface conditions in near-real time, enabling more targeted observations and dramatically improving the value of data returned to the ground. Within this context, land-focused applications such as regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, and broader land resilience efforts stand to benefit enormously from satellites that can adapt what, when, and how they sense based on dynamic environmental signals and algorithmic insight rather than fixed schedules or static acquisition plans.

NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) invites participants to design small satellite (SmallSat) mission concepts that leverage adaptive sensing and onboard processing to enhance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.​ Participants must work within onboard power, compute, and bandwidth constraints characteristic of SmallSat missions, focusing on how to orchestrate existing land observation algorithms into an efficient, responsive onboard intelligence layer.​ Both hardware-oriented and software-oriented solutions—or combinations of the two—are encouraged.

The Challenge
Develop or describe potential adaptive sensing or onboard processing solutions that support SmallSat mission concepts to advance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.

NASA’s primary objective for this challenge is to advance computational and systems approaches for adaptive sensing or onboard processing on SmallSat missions. The goal is not to develop new agricultural or forestry science but rather to improve how SmallSats sense, process, and deliver information to enable these applications.

As a participant, we suggest to:

Choose an audience for your solution.
Define a clear problem statement within a regenerative agriculture, forestry, or closely-related land resilience use case.
Describe a solution and how adaptive sensing and/or onboard processing would address the identified problem.
Select one or more existing land observation algorithm(s) and propose a software- or hardware-based technology (or hybrid) solution that advances adaptive sensing or onboard processing capabilities.
Align your quantitative and qualitative design and output to the Judging Criteria, paying specific attention that the adaptive sensing or onboard processing solution meets onboard power, compute, and bandwidth constraints characteristic of your chosen SmallSat system.
Provide a 5-page Submission Paper, 3-minute Pitch video, and either supporting Software Code (for software-based solutions) or Schematics (for hardware-focused solutions) documenting the key capabilities of your solution.

***Note: Ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this competition remains with you. Submission component #3 only supports Challenge Judges' technical evaluation of your solution.

Why should I participate?
Community Impact and Economic Development: Gaining expertise in regenerative agriculture and forestry enables participants to directly contribute to land use enhancements, creating a tangible impact in areas such as farming output, supply chain optimizations, and long-term hazard reductions.

Interdisciplinary Learning: Regenerative agriculture and forestry are inherently interdisciplinary, blending elements of ecology, meteorology, geography, public policy, and engineering. This challenge offers participants a rich experience that integrates various fields of study, fostering well-rounded academic and professional development.

Personal Growth and Leadership: NASA Challenges encourage participants to tackle complex problems, work collaboratively in multifaceted teams, and develop innovative solutions to impactful Agency and Earth Science initiatives.

Networking and Collaboration: Participating in Earth Science initiatives often involves collaboration with government agencies like NASA, non-profit organizations, and private entities. This challenge provides participants with valuable networking opportunities, access to mentorship, and potential collaborations that can enhance their educational journey and career prospects.

Cross-Applicability: By focusing on one tangible challenge, participants gain a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities posed by different SmallSat sensing and processing methods and will be able to apply their skills in new contexts.

Non-Dilutive Funding: Prize winners of the Challenge receive funding to further develop their innovative technologies and commercialization strategies without reducing equity or IP ownership in their ventures.‍

Conference Presentation Opportunity: Winners will have the opportunity to present their work at IGARSS (International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium), gaining visibility within the global Earth science and remote sensing community.‍

Innovation Incubator Access: Winners will participate in an innovation incubator program designed to accelerate the development and commercialization of their solutions, providing structured support, resources, and expert guidance.