Competitions & Opportunities
Don’t miss out on student competition opportunities available from NASA. Check this page often for new additions.
Click on each opportunity below to learn more and find application details.
TechRise seeks to equip America’s future workforce with the skills needed to advance the U.S. aerospace economy. Under this nationwide contest, sixth to 12th graders team up to design an experiment under the guidance of an educator. Teams from schools in U.S. states and territories submit ideas for experiments to fly on a NASA-sponsored flight test aboard a suborbital vehicle. NASA’s Flight Opportunities program provides flight testing via its cadre of commercial flight providers.
- Competition winners receive $1,500 to build their payloads
- Pre-registration for teachers is now open!
Expected to open in September 2025, TechRise strengthens the space technology researcher community and enables students around the country the chance to engage directly with professional engineers. The experience provides a hands-on opportunity for participants to gain critical skills in engineering, computing, electronics, and more that will be required for America’s technical workforce.
No experience is necessary to join the TechRise challenge!
Teachers: Apply here!
Student Launch is a 9-month long challenge that tasks student teams from across the U.S. to design, build, test, and launch a high-powered rocket carrying a scientific or engineering payload. It is a hands-on, research-based, engineering activity and culminates each year with a final launch in Huntsville, Alabama, home of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The activity offers multiple challenges reaching a broad audience of colleges and universities as well as middle and high school aged students across the nation.
Any U.S. College or University can submit a proposal to be considered for the Student Launch Challenge – University Student Launch Initiative (USLI). The USLI Division is a competitive division.
The handbook includes rules and requirements, proposal guidelines, a detailed timeline, and more.
Applications: Now open!
Culminating event dates: April 22 - 26, 2026
Culminating event location: Hunstville, AL
Audience: Grades 6-12, College and University
To submit a proposal, Click Here
Contact: john.r.eckhart@nasa.gov
HERC is a nine-month long challenge that tasks student teams to design and build human-powered or remote-controlled rovers capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while completing mission tasks. It is a hands-on, research-based, engineering activity and culminates each year with a final excursion event in Huntsville, Alabama, home of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The activity offers multiple challenges, reaching a broad audience of colleges and universities as well as middle and high school aged students across the world.
NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge is open for proposals from:
- Any U.S. college, university, middle school, or high school.
- Any U.S. informal education institution serving middle school or high school aged students.
- Any international college, university, middle school, or high school.
- This 2025-2026 HERC Handbook document represents complete operational content. Final internal administrative revisions are in progress but will not affect procedures or requirements. Proposal period is now open, and teams are authorized to proceed.
Thie 2025-2026 HERC Handbook document represents complete operational content. Final internal administrative revisions are in progress but will not affect procedures or requirements. Proposal period is now open, and teams are authorized to proceed.
Proposal Deadline: Sept. 15, 2025, by 8 AM CT
Event Dates: April 9-11, 2026
Event Location: U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL
To submit a proposal, Click Here
Contact: HERC@mail.nasa.gov
Registration will begin this Fall; more information will be provided when available. The challenge begins on Oct. 1, 2025, and concludes with video submissions on Dec. 10, 2025.
Event dates: April 13-13, 2026
Event location: Johnson Space Center
Audience: High School and Community College
NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (NASA SUITS) is a design challenge in which college students from across the country help design user interface solutions for future spaceflight needs. With NASA’s Artemis campaign, we are exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. This means engineers are actively developing technologies needed to assure successful completion of science and exploration missions. As humanity pushes further into the space it is essential that crewmembers on spacewalks be equipped with the appropriate new technologies necessary for the elevated demands of surface exploration on the Moon and Mars. By participating in the NASA SUITS challenge, you can play a part in revolutionizing the human spaceflight experience!
Applications for 2026 challenge: Opens August 2025
Event Location: Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Audience: College and University
Check back in August 2025 for the 2026 submission guidelines.
Contact: nasa-suits@mail.nasa.gov
Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) challenges undergraduate students to design, build, and test a tool or device that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge. The overall experience includes hands-on engineering design, test operations, and public outreach. Test operations are conducted in the simulated microgravity environment of the NASA Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). Teams will propose a design and prototype a tool identified by NASA engineers as necessary in space exploration missions. Professional NBL divers will test the tools and students will direct the divers from the Test Conductor Room of the NBL facility. Micro-g NExT provides a unique opportunity to contribute to NASA’s missions.
Applications: Application opens for the 2026 challenges on August 26, 2025
Event Location: Johnson Space Center
Audience: Colleges and Universities
Contact: jsc-reducedgravity@nasa.gov
The 2026 RASC-AL Competition is seeking US based undergraduate and graduate teams to develop concepts that support exploration of the Moon and Mars.
- Deadline to submit non binding Notice of Intent: October 13, 2025
- Proposal due date: February 23, 2026
- For full eligibility guidelines, review the 2026 RASC-AL Competition Guidelines .
Click here to submit a Notice of Intent
Contact: rascal@nianet.org
