Exploring Space Optimisation with ESA and GECCO: Our Journey at the SpOC Workshop 🚀

Earlier this year, our research group had the exciting opportunity to participate in the SpOC Workshop, hosted at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. This event was organized by the European Space Agency’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT), in collaboration with the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO), bringing together top minds in evolutionary computation and space exploration.

The Space Optimisation Competition (SpOC), is a new initiative imagined by ESA’s ACT and GECCO to challenge the community with complex, real-world-inspired optimisation problems. In this first edition of the competition, teams from around the world tackled three ambitious challenges inspired by a futuristic mission to settle the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system. Over the course of three months, participants applied their best techniques in evolutionary computation and optimisation to solve tasks like resource planning, delivery scheduling, and interplanetary transport design.

We're proud to share that our team achieved third place overall, standing on the podium among some of the top teams worldwide! 🎉

The workshop at ESTEC was not only a chance to present our work and findings on the challenges, but also a unique opportunity to engage with researchers from various countries and disciplines. The level of discussion, the diversity of approaches, and the collaborative spirit made the event incredibly enriching. Sharing ideas and insights with fellow experts, as well as receiving feedback from ESA scientists and engineers, was both inspiring and rewarding.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the organizers of the competition and workshop: Emmanuel Blazquez, Alexander Hadjiivanov, Dario Izzo, Marcus Märtens, and Pablo Gómez from the European Space Agency, for putting together such a well-designed, challenging, and inspiring event. Their dedication and vision made the SpOC experience truly special. We also want to congratulate all the participating teams for their outstanding contributions and creative solutions—it was a pleasure to share this adventure with such a talented and passionate community.

A highlight of the visit was a guided tour through ESTEC, ESA's largest research and technology centre. Walking through the same halls where cutting-edge space technologies are developed and tested was an unforgettable experience, and it was a true behind-the-scenes glimpse into Europe’s contribution to space exploration.

We left the workshop energized, full of new ideas, and motivated to continue exploring the frontiers of optimisation. We're grateful to ESA and GECCO for organizing such a well-crafted competition and workshop, and we look forward to future editions of SpOC!

Stay tuned for more updates from our research group as we continue working on exciting optimisation challenges! 🌍✨