Truman State Students Won SpaceXAI Challenge
The students created an orbital safety platform called Scutaris to help track satellite and space debris paths.
Updated on Oct. 6, 2026 in Space
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Ashraful Islam Tutul and Md. Tanvir Ibn Alam, students at Truman State University, secured a victory in the SpaceXAI challenge at HackMIT 2026. The duo developed a platform named Scutaris to simplify complex orbital data.
Why it matters
The platform aims to improve space safety by making dense orbital information accessible and understandable for users. It leverages artificial intelligence to analyze potential collision threats in increasingly crowded orbits.
The Scutaris platform organizes over 9,000 satellite and debris records using Elasticsearch. It integrates Grok and Grok Imagine to identify space threats and generate automated visual risk assessments.
The players
Ashraful Islam Tutul
He is a student at Truman State University who co-developed the award-winning orbital safety platform Scutaris.
Md. Tanvir Ibn Alam
He is a student at Truman State University who collaborated on the development of the Scutaris platform.
HackMIT
It is an annual hackathon hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that brings together students from around the world to build projects.
The details
Scutaris was named one of two winners among 23 different sponsor categories at the event. The team developed the software specifically to track and visualize orbital hazards.
Timeline
HackMIT 2026 took place in 2026.
Deeper Dive
The development of Scutaris follows a trend of leveraging the CelesTrak satellite database to build user-friendly orbital analysis tools. This work shifts the focus of space safety research toward more accessible, automated visual risk assessment platforms.
The development of platforms like Scutaris could eventually lead to more accurate monitoring of space traffic, which is critical as the number of satellites in orbit continues to grow. These tools help manage the safety of communications and navigation systems that rely on clear orbital paths.
The takeaway
Advancements in orbital safety are essential as space debris becomes a more significant challenge for commercial and government satellites. Students and developers can play a key role in creating AI-driven solutions to manage complex space logistics.
Further reading
Learn more about ongoing Space research and related technological advancements.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Daily Star.
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