{"slug":"astro-sweepers","name":"Astro Sweepers","hackathon":"nasa-space-apps-2025","tagline":"Orbital debris compliance and risk intelligence: automated Debris Assessment Software runs, ready-to-file disposal reports and a risk index for every object.","placement":{"status":"track-winner","awards":["Galactic Impact"],"track":"commercializing-leo"},"team":{"size":6,"members":[],"countries":[],"note":"Universal Event (virtual)."},"problem":"Commercial activity in low Earth orbit multiplies debris risk and regulatory paperwork; assessing each object and producing compliance reports takes operators weeks.","solution":"A platform that ingests public orbital data (SPARK 2022, Space-Track TLEs and conjunction messages, ESA DISCOS), scores every object with a weighted risk index (debris legacy, compliance, collision-risk burden, sustainability), computes the Δv needed to lower perigee, re-runs NASA's Debris Assessment Software to show compliance before and after, and auto-fills disposal and end-of-mission plans — paired with a tiered SaaS and licensing business model and long-term debris population forecasts.","demo_moment":null,"build_style":"software-only","tech":{"stack":["nasa-debris-assessment-software","space-track","esa-discos","vercel"],"ai_patterns":[]},"domains":["space-operations","due-diligence-risk"],"analysis":{"why_it_stood_out":[{"claim":"Won the award for the most potential to improve life on Earth or in the universe.","basis":"organizer-stated","source":1},{"claim":"Addresses the operational, regulatory and environmental sides of commercial spaceflight, not only orbital physics.","basis":"organizer-stated","source":0},{"claim":"A worked case study makes the value concrete: a single ~22 m/s burn moves an 11-year-old rocket body from failing to compliant, with before-and-after assessment numbers and an auto-generated disposal plan.","basis":"team-stated","source":2},{"claim":"Answers the challenge's business requirement in full: pricing tiers, operator and insurer licenses, and a multi-year financial model.","basis":"team-stated","source":2},{"claim":"Speaks the industry's compliance language, so the output is something an operator would file rather than a visualization.","basis":"curator-inference"}],"mechanisms":["takes-action","visible-engineering-depth","dual-use-value"],"judging_lens":["impact","challenge-relevance","technical-depth","business-potential"],"lessons":["Produce the artifact the real user must deliver (a compliance report), not only a dashboard.","Carry one worked, numeric case study from problem to fix; it proves the whole system in a minute.","When the challenge asks for a business model, bring pricing and a financial model, not a slide title."],"confidence":"high"},"links":{"project_page":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/find-a-team/astro-sweepers-we-catch-what-space-leaves-behind/?tab=project","demo":"https://astro-sweepers.vercel.app/","video":"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L3cIR8WZdzdp7eUY3leIToGTbnMiBT4N/view?usp=sharing"},"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/stem-engagement-at-nasa/nasa-announces-2025-international-space-apps-challenge-global-winners/","kind":"official-results","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14"},{"url":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/awards/","kind":"official-event-page","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14","note":"Award definition."},{"url":"https://www.spaceappschallenge.org/2025/find-a-team/astro-sweepers-we-catch-what-space-leaves-behind/?tab=project","kind":"project-page","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14","note":"Team-written description, risk model, case study, business model, AI-use note and data."}],"curator_notes":"The team page mentions an exploratory CNN that was not part of the submission, so no AI pattern is recorded."}