NASA offers students a million-dollar Moon base design challenge
NASA has opened a student competition for designs addressing the practical needs of a future lunar base. Eligible teams at US schools and post-secondary institutions can compete for up to one million dollars in awards across six categories. The programme combines technical proposals with presentations, and registration is due by January 25, 2027.
Science··Midday
Lunar problems become student assignments
The US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announced its Moon Base Student Challenge on November 8 in Florida. Teams at eligible American high schools and post-secondary institutions are invited to propose systems for a future outpost near the Moon’s south pole. NASA describes a prize pool of one million dollars; TSN Media’s independent overview of the competition reports that up to that amount is available. The invitation asks students to work on the practical requirements of a sustained lunar presence. NASA connects that longer-term goal with preparations for human travel to Mars.[1], [2]
Six areas, from energy to safety
The design categories cover generating and storing power, building structures, keeping crews alive, moving across the surface, maintaining communication networks and protecting astronauts. Rather than requiring entrants to arrive with a finished machine, NASA describes work resembling tasks in the space industry: comparing technical options, setting out a concept and briefing the people involved. The agency says previous specialist engineering or technical experience is unnecessary. It explicitly includes vocational, technical and other academic paths. The challenge therefore offers several kinds of student team a route into the same lunar engineering problems, with the environmental and mission constraints of surface operations shaping their proposals.[1]
Registration closes in January
The registration deadline is January 25, 2027, through NASA’s student and educator participation portal, STEM Gateway. The agency’s Office of STEM Engagement developed the competition with its Moon Base Program, while the Institute of Competition Sciences administers it under a NASA contract. The announcement places the project within workforce development, alongside the search for lunar technology concepts. It seeks skills in teamwork, technical reasoning and communication across several educational backgrounds. The deliverables are proposals and briefings; the announcement includes no selection of student hardware for a lunar mission or completed construction on the Moon.[1]
