NASA Selects University Finalists for Technology Concepts Competition

NASA has selected 14 university teams from across the country as finalists for the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. This NASA challenge asks students to design innovative concepts that could support human life and work on the Moon, Mars and beyond. The competition connects academia and the aerospace community, fostering innovation, collaboration and workforce development in support of NASA’s long-term exploration goals.

“The innovation and technical depth demonstrated this year is exemplary for the next generation of aerospace leaders,” said Daniel Mazanek, RASC-AL program sponsor and senior space systems engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The strongest teams demonstrated not only creativity, but also the disciplined analysis and systems engineering necessary to develop credible solutions to the space exploration challenges facing the agency.”

The RASC-AL 2026 competition invited university teams to develop technically rigorous proposals addressing one of four mission themes: communications, position, navigation and timing (CPNT) architectures for operations on the surface of Mars; Lunar surface power and energy management and distribution (PMAD) architectures; Lunar Sample Return Concepts; and demonstrations of lunar technologies leveraging common infrastructure. Each topic reflects relevant areas of exploration technology development aligned with NASA’s Artemis program and long-term human missions to Mars.

The RASC-AL 2026 finalists are:

CPNT Architectures for Mars Surface Operations

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  MELIORA: Mars Exploration Layered Infrastructure for Operations, Research and Advancement
• University of Texas, Austin
  Pharos Project
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  The Martian Pylon Network (MPN)

Lunar Surface Power and Power Management and PMAD Architectures

• Dartmouth College
  FLORA: Flywheel for lunar operations – Redundancy architecture
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
  AUREVO Project: Advanced Resource Utilization for Off-Earth Energy and Sustainability
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Lunar Exploration-Class Integrated Power System (ECLIPSE)
• University of Hawaii, Manoa with University of Hawaii, Hilo
  PETAL Project: Energy transfer architecture for the lunar surface

Lunar sample return concept

• South Dakota State University
  SELENE: example of extracting lunar elements for entry into the network
• Texas A&M University
  TAMU NOVA lunar mission
• University of Michigan
  LASSO – Lunar Autonomous Sample Staging Operations

Demonstrations of lunar technologies exploiting common infrastructure

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  CHEESEBURGER: CLPS-enabled highly autonomous end-to-end ISR system assessments to drive insight and resilient growth by experimenting with Regolith
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with the Leonard de Vinci School of Engineering
  MATRIX: Advanced regolith mining and processing for infrastructure and expansion
• University of Maryland
  Project LILI: Lunar Infrastructure and Landing Innovation
• University of Texas, Austin
  Demonstration of Scalable Surface Treatment for the Earth-Moon Economy (DUSTEE)

Each team submitted an initial proposal document and a two-minute video presentation, which were evaluated by a review committee comprised of NASA and aerospace industry experts.

“The RASC-AL competition challenges students to answer many of the same technical and operational questions we encounter while working on Artemis, from surface infrastructure to mobility and resource utilization,” added Dr. Christopher Jones, RASC-AL program sponsor and chief technologist in NASA Langley’s Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate. “The concepts developed in the competition help broaden NASA’s thinking as we plan and refine future exploration missions.”

As finalists, each team will further develop their concept in a comprehensive technical paper and oral presentation, culminating in an in-person presentation beginning June 2 at the 2026 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida. During the forum, students will present their work to NASA leaders, industry professionals, and other finalist teams, gaining valuable feedback and professional experience in systems-level mission design. The most successful teams in the forum will be recognized for their technical merit, innovation and presentation excellence.

The NASA RASC-AL competition is administered by the National Aerospace Institute. The RASC-AL competition is sponsored by the NASA Office of Strategy and Architecture within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate, and the NASA Langley Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Prizes, Challenges and Crowdsourcing program, is managing the challenge.

For more information about RASC-AL, visit RASCAL.nianet.org.