A hackathon is a 12-48 hour event where groups of people can get together and create! Don't worry, we're not doing any computer hacking. This hackathon is a bit unorthodox - it's a 3 month long journey, culminating in the traditional 48 hour event, but with some twists.

This is for any high schooler or middle schooler 18 or under who's interested in working on a large project. Reaching out of you comfort zone is necessary! If you've ever wanted to branch into the world of hardware, this is perfect for you. Or maybe, you just want to switch things up a little.

Don't worry if you don't have any experience - most people don't! We'll help you along the way if you need it.

Nope! Apex is open to all teenagers interested in launching projects on high altitude balloons. We will provide lots of resources to help you along the way of creating your project, in addition to weekly working calls to refine your idea and help you build.

Yes, you need a team of 3-4 people. This is because we have limited space on the balloon, and we want to make sure everyone gets a chance to launch their project. If you don't have a team, don't worry! We'll help you find one.

Yes, this is completely free! We want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate, regardless of their financial situation. We'll cover the cost of the launch, food, a project budget, and flights.

Apex is run by a team of high schoolers from all over the United States passionate about hardware, space, and high-altitude ballooning. We're all part of the Hack Club community, and we're excited to bring this event to you!

The team at Apex is partnering with Hack Club to make this possible. Please note that this is an official Hack Club event, but it is not being organized and run by staff at Hack Club, rather experienced members of the Hack Club community.

Hack Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2014, with the mission of fostering an empowered generation of coders, leaders, and innovators. “Hacking” is being constructively redefined as a means of creative coding—apps, games, websites etc. Through Hack Club's global network of student-led computer science clubs, over 50K+ teenagers engage with their programs annually.

All of Hack Club's programs are free and universally accessible. They're supported by GitHub founder Tom Preston-Werner, Dell founder Michael Dell, SpaceX's Gwynne Shotwell, executives at Apple and Microsoft, and many up and coming startups as well.

Every year, Hack Club runs a few transformative events for teenagers interested in technology. In the past, they've chartered a train across Canada, ran hackathons in San Francisco & New Delhi, hacked at a Vermont campground, and sent out $50,000 in hardware grants.

There sure is! We have a channel on the Hack Club Slack called #apex. Join here! We provide support here and post important updates in #apex-bulletin. For that reason, membership is mandatory!

Here's a quick summary:

1. Build your project! We'll help you along the way.
2. Track your time spent working on your project.
3. Reach 100 hours of work to qualify for the event and get flight stipends.
4. Head to Boston for the event!
5. We'll help you launch your project on a high altitude balloon, which will ascend to 100,000 feet.
6. Recover your project and analyze the data.
7. Celebrate!

The main event will hopefully be hosted at the WPS Institute, in Newton, MA, just outside of Boston. The event will take place from June 20-22, 2025. See a full schedule here!

You sure do! To verify that you're actually doing work for the event, we require you to track your time spent creating, coding, and researching.

Great question! We're still working on the tool (expected by early March!), but it will record your screen while you work on your project. If you're working on something physical, you can set up your phone or other device to record yourself working. This way, we can verify that you're actually working on your project.

Yep! Every person on a team that works for more than 20 hours will get $100. This means a team could get between $300 and $400!

Once you reach your 100 hours of work, we'll cover the cost of your airfare or transport to Boston up to $400! In addition, we'll cover up to $40 worth of transport to and from the airport.

Yep! To make sure the event is safe, we'll be staying overnight at the venue. Participants will be expected to bring their own sleeping bags, but please contact us if you don't have one.

If you get stuck, don't worry! We have a team of mentors who are here to help you. They're all experienced makers and are here to help you with any problems you might have. We'll also have weekly or bi-weekly working calls where you can pop in, ask questions, and receive help, in addition to our monthly mandatory 1:1 teams check-ins.

High altitude balloons (HABs) are an accessible way to send research and recreational payloads into altitudes upwards of 100,000 feet. While they demand meticulous planning and logistics, they reward those who launch them with the chance to send their payloads to tremendous altitudes. We are here to bring you that experience, but without the fierce logistics and infrastructure that often come with a launch!

If you're interested in learning more, watch this video from the New England Weather Balloon Society.

Participants will first arrive and finalize their projects before we drive out as a group to the launch site. Projects are attached to a weather balloon, ascend to the stratosphere, and then descend via parachute. Different teams will go out to track and recover their projects before analyzing the data. Be prepared for some hiking through the woods! Next, we will analyze the collected data before finally presenting it to the hackathon. There will also be an awesome post-launch celebration and a watch party of the video cams.

You can launch anything that fits within our limitations! Bear in mind that we'll be vetting projects based on their complexity and the estimated time it will take.

Great question! Unfortunately, no. The balloons will reach altitudes of 100,000 feet (30 km), but they won't actually reach space. Your project will get to about 3/8 of the way to space.

We have a page with more information about balloons.

If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to us at apex@hackclub.com, or drop a question in the #apex channel of the Hack Club Slack! We're here to help!

That's natural - this all seems a little wild. Don't worry, we can help. We have a parent's guide just for this purpose. You can find it here.