After the victory last November 17-18, in which a team from the Air Force Academy won the local phase of the competition DefinSpace Hackathon 2023, organized by the French Space Command, on December 12th the winners flew to Paris to participate in the semi-finals and finals of the competition.
The Air Force Academy, this is the name of the participating team, had to challenge 9 other teams, presenting their work in front of an extremely varied jury, made up of representatives of industries, universities and military authorities belonging to the French Space Command.
The project of the Academy's attendees was also convincing in the semi-finals, guaranteeing access to the final which was reserved for only two teams. After a further presentation which took place this time in a plenary session, on stage the Italian team ranked second in the entire competition.
This great success demonstrates how the efforts made by the Air Force in the meta-training field are proceeding in the right direction, taking care of the investment right from the basic training of its attendees, on whom it is crucial to have a long-term perspective in the new space domain . The strengths of the team were, in addition to the skills developed within the sector during their training, the proactive attitude and above all the multidisciplinary approach. This last aspect was ensured by a heterogeneous composition which saw attendees of different courses and roles working in perfect synergy.
The Air Force Academy, as part of the extracurricular activities overseen by the activities of the training units and, in particular, those aimed at the training unit Astra, pursues the objective of increasing awareness and knowledge of the aerospace domain for its visitors.
The Air Force Academy is under the command of the Air Force/3rd Air Region Schools. It is a military institute of higher education of a university nature which has the task of providing for the recruitment and training of young people who aspire to become officers of the Air Force.
By attending the regular courses of the Academy you can become a second lieutenant in permanent active service of the Air Force, in the normal role of navigators (pilots) and in the normal role of the Arms, of the aeronautical engineers, of the aeronautical commissary corps and of the aeronautical medical corps. Courses are also held at the Institute for officer students (pilots and navigators of complement and fixed station) and directly appointed second lieutenants (both of the normal role and of the special role); finally, in the Academy's study plan, courses with a specialist aeronautical connotation are foreseen, for foreign personnel and other Armed Forces.
