NASA has announced the Lunar Base student challenge, a competition with a prize pool of $1 million. The announcement was made on Sunday, 8 November 2026, during the MAX POWER event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
The competition invites teams of US high school and university students to submit design solutions for the Lunar Base. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that they are looking for students ready to think creatively, work in teams and solve real problems related to NASA’s future on the Moon. He emphasised that there is no need to wait until finishing school to make a contribution.
NASA is building the Lunar Base, where astronauts will live, work and explore the lunar south pole region. A permanent human presence on the Moon paves the way for future crewed missions to Mars.
Carlos García-Galán, Lunar Base programme director, said that while building and designing the foundations of the Lunar Base, they want to use all ingenuity and innovation to consider every aspect that explorers might need for life and work at the site.
The challenge consists of several phases. Student teams will design innovative solutions for the Lunar Base in six categories: energy production and storage, construction, life support systems, surface mobility, communication networks and astronaut safety.
Applications are made via the NASA STEM Gateway platform in English, with the deadline open until 25 January 2027.
Elaine Ho, associate administrator of the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA headquarters in Washington, stated that students are the next generation of explorers and innovators and that their unique perspectives are key to designing the future far from Earth.
The Lunar Base challenge deals with real environmental and mission parameters for life and work on the lunar surface. Required submissions reflect skills inherent to the sector: comparative studies, conceptual proposals and presentations to stakeholders. Participants from technical, vocational and various academic backgrounds can develop career-relevant competencies without prior experience in engineering or technical fields.
The Office of STEM Engagement designed the challenge in collaboration with the Lunar Base programme. It is managed by the Institute of Competition Sciences under a contract with NASA’s Center for Collaborative Innovation, which operates within the agency’s Directorate of Mission Systems.
Detailed information in English about the challenge, participation conditions and official rules is available at https://moonbasechallenge.org.
