The Polish team "Poland Can Into Space" took second place in the finals of the "Hack-a-Sat" competition, organised by the United States Air Force (USAF).
The aim of the competition was to regain control of a satellite lost in a simulated hacking attack. The Polish team came second in the challenge. An additional task during the finals was to develop a plan of a mission to take a satellite photo of the Moon. The Polish team prepared the most accurate plan, which was the only one to be implemented by a real satellite in orbit around the Earth.
While preparing for the finals, which took place on August 7-9, each team had to familiarize themselves with all the components of the final satellite model.
To participate in the finals, the Polish team had to be among the 8 best teams from the qualifying stage. It required solving dozens of tasks in the field of ICT security and satellite technologies. Beating over 1,200 teams from around the world, the Poles also reached the finals from second place.
"Poland Can Into Space" consisted of members of p4 and Dragon Sector - two of the best Polish teams in the field of ICT security ("Capture The Flag"), and experts with experience in designing Polish student satellite missions. It is worth noting that a large part of the team were current or former specialists from the CERT Polska team, operating within NASK structures. In the Hack-A-Sat competition the Polish team received a prize of 45,000 dollars.