🛰️ 2026 International Space Communication Challenge

Space Communication Track of the 2026 International Aeronautics and Astronautics Challenge — Invitation to Participate (First Announcement)

Chinese name: 2026 国际空间通信挑战赛（2026 国际空天挑战赛空间通信赛道）

The 2026 International Space Communication Challenge (Space Communication Track of the 2026 International Aeronautics and Astronautics Challenge) is an international aerospace-communication science and technology competition jointly hosted by the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT). The competition is open to university and secondary-school students, amateur radio enthusiasts, and professionals in space communication worldwide. The relevant details are announced below.

1. Competition Name

2. Mission and Purpose

The competition focuses on frontier directions including satellite communication, deep-space exploration, space-based networks, space tracking, telemetry & command (TT&C), and amateur satellite applications. It aims to build an innovation and practice platform for university and secondary-school students and space-communication enthusiasts worldwide.

The competition encourages teams to deeply integrate theory with engineering practice through hardware development, scheme design, live-contact testing, and data analysis — comprehensively strengthening skills in system design, innovative application, and international collaboration, and cultivating versatile talent with an international outlook and engineering competence.

3. Organizing Bodies

Host Institutions Harbin Institute of Technology; Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

Advisory Institutions Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO); Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering; Amateur Radio Branch of the Chinese Radio Association; Technical Committee on Fault-Tolerant Computing of the China Computer Federation (CCF)

Co-organizers Student Amateur Radio Association of the University of Science and Technology of China; Youth Science & Technology Museum of Dongcheng District, Beijing; Shanghai ASES Space Technology Co., Ltd.; Foshan South China Radio Club; Heilongjiang Radio Sports Association

Supporting & Sponsoring Institutions CAS Space Technology Co., Ltd.; Beijing Aerospace Yuxing Technology Co., Ltd.; ZhongkeTiansuan (Shanghai) Information Technology Co., Ltd.

4. Eligibility

The competition is open to university and secondary-school students and space-communication enthusiasts worldwide. Participants include, but are not limited to:

• Undergraduate and graduate students at universities in China and abroad;
• Secondary-school students, vocational-school students, and youth science-and-technology innovation teams;
• University student science clubs, amateur radio associations, and aerospace innovation teams;
• Amateur radio operators, satellite-communication enthusiasts, and space-science education teams;
• Joint teams formed across schools, regions, and countries.

5. Schedule and Venue

The competition is organized as a combination of on-site concentrated activities and global remote participation.

• Dates: July 20 – 24, 2026
• Main on-site venue: Harbin Institute of Technology, Nangang District, Harbin
• Globally open track: Satellite Enigma Race may be conducted from anywhere in the world

The exact schedule and reporting location are subject to the official notice issued later by the Organizing Committee.

6. Competition Tracks

The competition comprises six tracks. Details and requirements for each are as follows.

6.1　SpaceCom Maker (匠造空间通信)

Aimed at physical works related to space communication, this track encourages teams to develop hardware and demonstrate systems in directions such as satellite communication, ground stations, radio reception, antenna systems, communication payloads, signal processing, and demonstration apparatus. Teams submit physical works and present, demonstrate, and technically explain them on-site in Harbin.

Scoring: Scored on-site by all participating team members present in Harbin (excluding members of the team being scored); ranked by total score.

6.2　Amateur Satellite Concept (业余卫星创想)

Teams are encouraged to propose innovative amateur-satellite design schemes based on a 6U CubeSat, with emphasis on mission concept, system design, communication scheme, engineering feasibility, and application value. Teams submit design schemes and give a presentation and defense on-site in Harbin.

Scoring: Scored on-site by all participating team members present in Harbin (excluding members of the team being scored); ranked by total score.

6.3　Radio Wave Duel (电波对决争锋)

This track simulates a satellite-communication scenario under shared spectrum, limited resources, and complex electromagnetic interference, emphasizing teams’ comprehensive abilities in communication-system design, protocol optimization, link maintenance, anti-jamming transmission, and effective data exchange.

Each team must use the equipment uniformly provided by the Organizing Committee to independently design and build a communication system: within the designated frequency band, one SDR device transmits and another SDR device receives, with the transmitted/received content being random data files provided by the Committee. All teams operate simultaneously in the same venue; every team’s transmitted signal constitutes active interference to the others, so each team must account for and resist various forms of interference from other teams in its system design. Computers used in the competition must have all communication interfaces other than the SDR disabled, ensuring a fair and controllable environment.

Scoring: The judging panel ranks teams by the amount of random data correctly demodulated; the team demodulating the most valid data wins.

6.4　Weather Satellite Reception (天线追风捕云)

This track simulates the rapid-deployment task of a real meteorological-satellite ground receiving station. Within the time limit, teams must complete feed fabrication, receiving-system assembly, and tuning, successfully capture the downlink signals of geostationary meteorological satellites, and demodulate/recover valid cloud imagery (including but not limited to FY-2G/H, GK-2A, etc.).

The organizers uniformly provide the antenna, mounts, filters, amplifiers, RF cables, receiver, decoding software, and necessary tools; teams may replace any component except the antenna reflector.

Scoring: Comprehensive scoring based on system-assembly quality, number of valid image frames, image completeness, and number of satellites received (different bands or modes of the same satellite count as different satellites).

6.5　Deep-Space Tracking (深空追迹定轨)

This track simulates the measurement task of a deep-space exploration ground station. Within the time limit, teams must complete receiving-system assembly and tuning, and perform signal reception, Doppler-shift measurement, and orbit determination for targets such as Tiandu-1.

The organizers uniformly provide the antenna, mounts, filters, amplifiers, RF cables, receiver, and necessary tools; teams may replace any component except the antenna reflector. If uncontrollable factors such as weather affect on-site observation, the organizers will uniformly provide backup measurement data for subsequent processing.

Scoring: Comprehensive scoring based on system-assembly quality, measurement-data quality, and orbit-determination accuracy.

6.6　Satellite Enigma Race (逐星解谜竞速)

This globally open amateur satellite-contact activity encourages teams to receive satellite telemetry signals faster and better. Within the designated competition window, teams or individuals earn points by receiving special telemetry signals from the ASRTU-1 “Friendship” satellite and performing decoding and puzzle-solving operations.

Matters not covered for each track (detailed rules, equipment requirements, scoring criteria, etc.) are subject to technical documents released later by the Organizing Committee. Throughout the competition, teams must retain raw measurement data and processing code for review by the judging panel.

7. Rules of Participation

7.1　Team Formation

Participants may compete individually or as teams. Joint teams across schools, regions, and countries are encouraged, with no restriction on members’ affiliations. No individual may register for the same track under more than one team. After registration closes, team membership may in principle not be changed; in genuinely exceptional cases, a written request must be submitted to the Organizing Committee and approved before any adjustment. A single team (including an individual) may register for one or more tracks according to their strengths, and each track’s results are calculated independently. Team-size limits per track:

7.2　Fairness

All teams must abide by the competition rules and must not falsify data, misappropriate others’ work, maliciously interfere with other teams, use external data in violation of the rules, or exceed power limits.

7.3　Safety

When radio transmission, antenna erection, outdoor equipment installation, power systems, and RF equipment are involved, teams must comply with safety regulations.

7.4　Intellectual Property

Intellectual property of entries in principle belongs to the participating teams. Teams must ensure that their works, schemes, software, images, data, and reports do not infringe upon any rights.

7.5　Delegations

For this edition, the “delegation” is the unit for selecting the Overall Champion, Runner-up, and Second Runner-up. A delegation may consist of multiple teams from the same school, the same institution, or a joint entry, each registering for the various tracks separately. Members of different teams within the same delegation may be shared across teams, but no individual may join more than one delegation. Each delegation must designate a contact person responsible for communication and coordination with the Organizing Committee on all track matters within the delegation. Teams are identified by the team name entered at registration; the delegation is used only for overall-ranking calculation.

8. Awards

8.1　Track Awards

For each track, First, Second, Third, and Merit prizes are established according to the number of participating teams and their results, with certificates issued. The top three in each track receive Champion / Runner-up / Second Runner-up certificates, along with trophies, aerospace models, cultural-creative products, and other rewards. Outstanding teams may receive corporate internship recommendations, media promotion, and opportunities for follow-on project collaboration.

8.2　Overall Awards

The competition awards an Overall Champion, Runner-up, and Second Runner-up, determined by the comprehensive performance of each delegation across the tracks it entered. A delegation may consist of one or more teams; teams are identified by their registered names, and the delegation is used only for overall ranking.

Scoring Rule

Each track assigns points by team ranking: 1st place scores 100 and last place scores 10, with intermediate places distributed linearly and evenly between 100 and 10 in rank order. For a total of N participating teams:

Score of rank r = 100 − (r − 1) × (100 − 10) / (N − 1)

(Results are rounded to the nearest integer; if only one team competes, it scores 100.)

Each track’s score is credited to the delegation to which the team belongs. If a delegation has multiple teams in the same track, only the highest score in that track counts toward the delegation’s total — scores are not accumulated.

Each delegation’s total is the sum of its four best track scores, and these must include at least one of “SpaceCom Maker” and “Amateur Satellite Concept.” Delegations are ranked from highest to lowest total and awarded Overall Champion, Runner-up, and Second Runner-up accordingly.

Tie-breaking order: ① the delegation entering more tracks ranks higher; ② the higher top score in a common track ranks higher; ③ if still tied, the Arbitration Committee decides based on the technical difficulty, innovation, or completeness of the entered projects.

If a delegation enters fewer than four tracks, its total is computed from the tracks actually entered and it may still be ranked.

Rewards for the Overall Top Three (first-choose-first-served; each reward limited to one team; no duplication)

The Overall Champion, Runner-up, and Second Runner-up choose in ranking order. Specific fulfillment conditions, payload technical requirements, scheduling, etc., are to be negotiated separately between the sponsor and the winning team and are subject to the implementation details finally published by the sponsor.

8.3　Special Awards

Depending on competition resources and the entries, the following special awards are established (may be left vacant):

• Best Engineering Implementation Award
• Best Creative Design Award
• Best Communication Performance Award
• Best Space Education Award
• Best International Collaboration Award
• Best Youth Team Award
• Best Open-Source Contribution Award

Special awards are nominated and selected by the Review Committee, in principle one team per award. In exceptionally outstanding cases, and with the unanimous agreement of the Review Committee, tied awards or honorable mentions may be added.

9. Timeline

The detailed schedule is subject to the on-site program book.

10. Registration

From now until July 10, 2026, visit the link below or scan the QR code to complete the registration form:

🔗 https://e7qw4eih9eej56g3.mikecrm.com/5PTDbpv

There is no registration fee. Travel, meals, and accommodation are at participants’ own expense. A photocopy of a valid personal accident-insurance policy must be submitted at check-in.

11. Contact

📧 Email: lilacsat@hit.edu.cn

12. Other Notes

This is the first-round announcement. The specific track rules, registration requirements, scoring criteria, equipment lists, schedule, award arrangements, and safety requirements are subject to the official competition notices and technical documents released later by the Organizing Committee.

For the latest updates, please follow the official notices of the WeChat public accounts “HIT Undergraduate Teaching” (哈工大本科教学), “BUPT School of Information and Communication Engineering” (北邮信息与通信工程学院), “LilacSat” (紫丁香卫星), 🔗 https://lilacsat.github.io/, and others.

Organizing Committee, 2026 International Space Communication Challenge

June 29, 2026