Inspiration
In Lagos, a friend once told us how their apartment’s view of Nigeria Falls was blocked by a sudden rooftop extension — legally permitted, but deeply frustrating. A similar story played out in Mumbai: fans at a Coldplay concert who paid for premium terraces suddenly found their views obstructed by banners from nearby hotels. Both moments sparked the question: “Who really owns the sky above a building?”
& We realized that air rights — the space above your property — are valuable, often unclaimed, and deeply misunderstood. We wanted to create a way for people to register, sell, or lease that space simply and securely.
What it does
AirSpace is a platform where anyone can list, buy, or rent the air above buildings. Whether you're a hotel wanting to preserve your skyline view or a developer planning something new, you can use AirSpace to claim and transfer that space — like property, but vertical.
Each air right is turned into a digital certificate (NFT), and its documents (like zoning approvals) are linked to a tamper-proof record using exSat, which stores them securely and publicly.
How we built it
A simple frontend where people can list and view air rights Smart contracts on exSat’s EVM Layer that represent air rights as NFTs A backend system that stores and hashes zoning documents These document hashes are then stored on exSat’s Native Layer, where they can't be changed — giving buyers confidence that the claim is real Each NFT also links to a trade history log that is anchored regularly for transparency
Challenges we ran into
- Learning how to use both layers of exSat — one for smart contracts, one for data anchoring
- Designing a user interface that made a technical process feel familiar and easy, even for non-blockchain users
Accomplishments we’re proud of
Made something useful for a very real, often-overlooked problem in cities Integrated with exSat’s infrastructure successfully to anchor legal claims and trade proofs Created a working system that can be tested and expanded, not just a demo (MVP is done)
What we learned
Property isn’t just about what’s on the ground — airspace is just as contested and valuable Clear records matter more than just technology — platforms like exSat help create those records in a way people can trust Keeping things simple is hard but essential when you're dealing with law, property, and tech all at once
What's next for AirSpace
- Test the platform with actual property owners in cities like Mumbai and Nairobi
- Explore partnerships with real estate lawyers to make airspace claims easier to verify
- Add options to lease air rights short-term (e.g., for drone use, event advertising, or camera rigs)
- Build a public map where people can see which skies are claimed, and which are still open
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