Who will be the next startups to revolutionize the space industry?

TechCrunch and The Aerospace Corporation are once again joining forces at the Space Challenge pitch competition at Disrupt 2024 this October in San Francisco. The contest is designed to foster growth and development of innovative startups poised to transform commercial space operations. By engaging the founder and innovator community, venture capitalists, and the commercial industry, this event will cast a wide net, attracting startups from both the space sector and beyond.

The primary goal of the pitch off is to accelerate the development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies in the space industry. The Aerospace Corporation seeks to identify and support startups that can bring transformative innovations to market and integrate them into national programs. Growing the space ecosystem alongside venture capital investors and innovators addressing critical problem areas is a core aim of Aerospace’s Commercial Space Futures initiative.

A distinguished panel of judges, comprising top-tier venture capitalists and commercial space partners, will evaluate the competing startups based on several key criteria including:

Innovation and Impact:

• What groundbreaking technologies are being introduced? 
• What is the potential for these innovations to make a significant impact on the space industry?

Team and Funding Utilization:

• Who are the team members behind the startup? 
• How effectively will the funding be utilized to advance their goals?

Venture Scale Potential:

• Why does the startup have the potential to grow into a venture-scale company?

The Challenge and The Competition Prizes & Eligibility

For more specifics on requirements, eligibility, and general terms and conditions here.

Why Aerospace?

The Aerospace Corporation is uniquely positioned to align with funders, government interests and commercial operators to advance startups with funding, access to government projects, and commercial partnerships. Aerospace is interested in accelerating development and the uptake of innovations into commercial space operations and government projects from existing space and crossover startups, new innovators working in problem areas and venture partners building space portfolios.