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NASA has opened a $1 million, multiphase challenge inviting teams at U.S. high schools and post-secondary schools to develop concepts for a future Moon Base. Registration through NASA’s STEM Gateway is open until Jan. 25, 2027; the announcement does not specify how the prize money will be divided or the competition’s full schedule.
NASA has opened its $1 million Moon Base Student Challenge, inviting teams from U.S. high schools and post-secondary schools to design solutions for living and working at a future lunar base. The multiphase competition covers six areas of Moon Base operations, and registration through NASA’s STEM Gateway is open until Jan. 25, 2027.
NASA announced the challenge Sunday at a MAX POWER event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Student teams are being asked to develop ideas in power generation and storage, construction, life-support systems, surface mobility, communications networks and astronaut safety. The agency describes the competition as a way for students to work on design problems tied to its plans for a sustained human presence on the Moon.
The challenge is designed for students across technical, vocational and other academic tracks. NASA says prior specialized engineering or technical experience is not required. Expected work reflects professional practices, including trade studies, concept proposals and stakeholder briefings, though the announcement does not give a detailed breakdown of required submissions for each phase.
Teams must register through the NASA STEM Gateway by Jan. 25, 2027. NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement developed the competition with the Moon Base Program. The Institute of Competition Sciences administers it under a contract with NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, within the agency’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate. NASA directs applicants to moonbasechallenge.org for eligibility requirements and official rules.
Student Ideas for Lunar Operations
The competition connects student learning with practical questions NASA says it must address to support people living and working on the lunar surface. Its six categories span basic infrastructure, such as power and life support, as well as mobility, communications and crew safety. Concepts developed through the challenge could give NASA and participants a structured way to examine design approaches, but the announcement does not say that entries will be adopted for the agency’s Moon Base.
For participants, the stated aim is career-relevant experience. NASA says the competition’s deliverables are intended to build skills used in the space industry and that students do not need specialized technical backgrounds to take part. That broad eligibility may allow teams with different academic and vocational strengths to contribute, although the official rules will determine how teams qualify and how entries are judged.
NASA also links a lasting human presence on the Moon with future crewed missions to Mars. The student challenge is one workforce-development effort supporting that longer-term direction; it is not, by itself, a construction contract, a schedule for establishing the base or evidence that a particular student design will be used in a mission.
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NASA’s Planned Lunar Base
NASA says it is developing a Moon Base where astronauts would live, work and explore near the lunar South Pole. The agency describes permanent human presence on the Moon as a step toward later crewed missions to Mars and says designing the base will require contributions from people with varied skills and backgrounds.
The competition’s multiphase format is intended to support NASA’s effort to cultivate technical skills for the future aerospace workforce. Its deliverables are framed around authentic environmental and mission-design parameters for lunar operations. The announcement, however, provides no base construction timetable or technical specifications against which the student concepts will be evaluated.
Prize Rules and Judging Details
NASA’s announcement identifies a $1 million challenge but does not explain whether that amount is a total prize pool, how awards will be divided, or whether funding will go to winning teams, institutions or other recipients. It also does not provide the full phase-by-phase schedule, judging criteria, submission deadlines beyond registration, or the number of teams expected to participate.
The announcement does not state whether NASA will use any submitted concepts in Moon Base planning. The agency says the challenge addresses real mission and environmental design parameters, but that description does not establish that entries will become flight hardware or be incorporated into a final base design. Applicants will need to consult the official rules for confirmed eligibility, deliverables and award terms.
Registration and Competition Rules
Interested teams can register through NASA’s STEM Gateway until Jan. 25, 2027. NASA directs participants to moonbasechallenge.org for the complete competition details, eligibility requirements and official rules. Those materials are the source for the specific submission process and any deadlines after registration.
NASA has not announced in the supplied release when the phases will conclude, when winners will be named or how the $1 million will be distributed. Further information on those points, along with the judging process, will be needed to clarify what participating teams can expect after registering.
Key Questions
Who can enter NASA’s Moon Base Student Challenge?
The announcement invites student teams at U.S. high schools and post-secondary schools. NASA says prior specialized engineering or technical experience is not required. The official rules provide the detailed eligibility requirements.
What will teams design?
Teams will develop solutions in six areas: power generation and storage, construction, life-support systems, surface mobility, communications networks and astronaut safety.
When is registration due?
Registration through NASA’s STEM Gateway is open until Jan. 25, 2027. The announcement does not list the later phase deadlines.
How will the $1 million be awarded?
NASA’s announcement does not specify how the $1 million will be divided or who will receive awards. Participants should check the official competition rules for award terms.
Will NASA use student designs to build the Moon Base?
The release says the challenge seeks ideas related to NASA’s Moon Base plans, but it does not say that entries will be selected for construction or adopted into the final design.
Source: nasa.gov
