Two Bangladeshi students from Truman State University have won the SpaceX AI Challenge at MIT’s HackMIT 2026 with ‘Scutaris’, an AI-powered platform designed to identify and analyse potential satellite collision risks.
Two Bangladeshi students from Truman State University, Ashraful Islam and Md. Tanvir Ibn Alam, have won the SpaceX AI Challenge at HackMIT 2026, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Their project, ‘Scutaris’, was selected as one of the top two projects in the SpaceX challenge, earning the students an opportunity to work with SpaceX engineers.
Scutaris is an AI-powered orbital safety platform designed to identify potential collision risks involving satellites and space debris. The platform analyses orbital safety information and presents the findings in a simplified format to make potential risks easier to understand.
HackMIT 2026 brought together more than 1,100 students from 36 countries. The SpaceX AI Challenge was among the challenges featured in the hackathon, providing participants with an opportunity to develop technology-driven solutions to complex problems.
For Islam and Alam, the recognition provides exposure to professionals working in the space technology sector and could contribute to future internship and career opportunities.
The achievement also highlights the growing participation of Bangladeshi students in international technology competitions, particularly in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and space technology.
With Scutaris, the two students combined AI with orbital safety to address the growing challenge of managing potential collision risks involving satellites and space debris.
