  Current and future challenges in astroparticle physics require novel
simulation tools to achieve higher precision and more flexibility. For three
decades the FORTRAN version of CORSIKA served the community in an excellent
way. However, the effort to maintain and further develop this complex package
is getting increasingly difficult. To overcome existing limitations, and
designed as a very open platform for all particle cascade simulations in
astroparticle physics, we are developing CORSIKA 8 based on modern C++ and
Python concepts. Here, we give a brief status report of the project.
