UAE initiative advances citizen space innovation and showcases global engineering talent

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, December 17, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), part of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), has announced the winners of its Rocket Telemetry Challenge, run in partnership with global innovation company Wazoku.

The international open innovation competition sought a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) data link between a suborbital sounding rocket and a ground station. The Texas A&M University Sounding Rocketry Team (SRT) claimed first place, winning a $30,000 prize, while Innova Space from Argentina was awarded second place and $15,000.

The SRT is an interdisciplinary, student-run organisation at Texas A&M University, dedicated to developing engineering talent through the design, construction and testing of complex rocket systems. Innova Space is a startup company involved in developing satellites’ communication systems. Both winning teams were invited to the UAE to demonstrate their telemetry systems, following successful lab-based testing and validation of their solutions by TII’s Propulsion and Space Research Centre (PSRC).

“This challenge has been a massive positive for us,” said Dr. Elias Tsoutsanis, Chief Researcher of the Propulsion and Space Research Center, TII. “Every step was well organised, and in the end, we found a system that meets our requirements. The selected teams demonstrated a clear understanding of the brief and strong practical engineering skills, which enabled them to deliver suitable, cost-effective solutions within the requested timeframe.”

In total, the challenge attracted around 50 submissions from innovators, researchers, and students across more than 20 countries, highlighting the global reach of TII’s open innovation programme and the diversity of approaches to advanced telemetry development.

The winning team’s telemetry solution will be integrated into the next PSRC sounding rocket, launched from the UAE, representing another key step in advancing the country’s space propulsion capabilities.

“The Texas A&M Sounding Rocketry Team stood out for their technical precision, ingenuity, and the clarity with which they addressed our specifications,” added Dr. Tsoutsanis, TII. “They exemplified the spirit of innovation this challenge was designed to promote. We were equally impressed by Innova Space, whose creative engineering and clear system architecture showcased a different but highly effective approach to the same problem.”

The challenge was run via Wazoku’s open innovation platform, Innocentive. Innocentive is the world's most advanced innovation network, with a 700,000+ crowd of engineers, scientists, students, entrepreneurs and more, that has solved 2,500+ challenges at a success rate of 80%.

“The Rocket Telemetry Challenge shows how open innovation can accelerate discovery,” said Schonning Eysturoy, Senior Director of Innovation Ecosystems at Wazoku. “We’re proud to have supported TII in tapping into our 700,000-strong global Crowd, and it’s inspiring to see such high-quality engineering come to life from teams around the world.”

Building on this success, TII plans to continue exploring open innovation as a mechanism for advancing national and global space research. The Rocket Telemetry Challenge, part of TII’s ongoing efforts to enhance the UAE’s position in the global space ecosystem, demonstrates how international collaboration and open innovation can unlock fresh solutions in high-technology fields.

“Our goal is to build rocket propulsion capabilities and position the UAE on the global stage,” concluded Dr. Tsoutsanis. “Challenges like this – and tapping into the collective brainpower of institutions and professionals worldwide - not only solve real engineering problems but also build bridges across borders, bringing together the next generation of innovators.”

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For further information about Wazoku, visit https://www.wazoku.com
For further information about TII, visit https://www.tii.ae/

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