Data from space will help farmers on the ground: Ukrainians have developed an application and received recognition from NASA

20 January 09:42

A team from Kyiv has developed the NVS-knot application and won the NASA hackathon. This was reported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.

The Ukrainian development took first place in the Galactic Impact category. In total, 15 teams won last year’s NASA International Space Apps Challenge hackathon, including the Ukrainian team.

According to Roman Malkevych, the local head of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge Kyiv, more than 90 thousand people from all over the world took part in the competition and about 10 thousand teams created projects.

“About 1000 projects were evaluated directly by NASA. And our team won among them!” said Roman Malkevich.

The winners will be awarded at NASA headquarters.

What is the winning Ukrainian project about?

The NVS-knot application developed by Ukrainians integrates satellite and hydrological data for decision-making in agriculture.

The task of the Ukrainian specialists was to “develop a tool that will allow farmers to easily explore, analyze, and use NASA datasets to solve problems related to improving farming practices.”

According to the hackathon’s website, “this project brought together three different teams to develop an original and highly innovative application that enables farmers to manage crop risks.”

“We started with a solid scientific foundation from Nave Analytics, which integrated satellite data and hydrological models into federated soil hydrology data products. The VITech team provided the advanced cloud. The third participant, the Sparrow team, focused on developing an intuitive user interface, ensuring that the application is accessible and highly useful to farmers through clear and practical information. This cooperation aims to bridge the gap between advanced technology and the practical needs of agriculture based on farmers’ requests,” the project’s business card says.

What is known about the NASA hackathon

The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is a hackathon that brings together developers, designers, scientists, and innovators from around the world.

NASA Space Apps provides a platform for problem solvers around the world to use free and open data from NASA and its space agency partners. NASA Space Apps Challenge teams use these resources to solve challenges written by NASA experts that cover topics ranging from storytelling to software development, astrophysics, space exploration, and more.

Every year, thousands of teams submit projects that demonstrate creativity, collaboration, and solve problems that people face on Earth and in space. These projects go through several rounds of evaluation to determine the global winners of the NASA Space Apps Challenge, who represent the most innovative projects.

This is not the only success of Ukrainian developers in the United States

As reported by Komersant ukrainskyi, eight startups represented Ukraine in Las Vegas at the annual CES 2025 Consumer Electronics Show: S.Lab, Syla, Qudi, Versi Bionics, eXtra Vision, Beetless, Pickpad, Profeed.

The Pickpad startup returned home with a victory. The team received two top awards: CES Innovation Award – 2025 Honoree in Artificial Intelligence and Best of Tech Podcast Network CES 2025. The Ukrainian startup presented there a modular smart panel system powered by sensors and machine learning that helps to increase efficiency and customer retention in busy restaurants.

Василевич Сергій
Editor