Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing
NASA connects the public to the agency’s missions and explores creative possibilities for addressing the agency’s needs through prizes, challenges, and crowdsourcing opportunities. The program bridges NASA’s institutional expertise with the ingenuity of industry experts, universities, and the public at large, resulting in collaborations that help advance space technology solutions. The program’s opportunities are available through Centennial Challenges and the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI).
Open Opportunities
NASA Space to Soil Challenge
Design SmallSat mission concepts to enhance regenerative agriculture, forestry, or a similar land resilience objective.
Mars to Table Challenge
This new NASA Deep Space Food Challenge seeks concepts for food systems that could be used on the surface of Mars and the Moon.
Get Involved with NASA
Find more opportunities to get involved in initiatives across the agency.
Centennial Challenges
NASA Centennial Challenges offer incentive prizes to generate revolutionary solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation. The program seeks innovations from diverse and non-traditional sources. Competitors are not supported by government funding and awards are only made to successful teams when the challenges are met.
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Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation
The Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) works with innovators across NASA and the Federal Government to generate ideas and solve important problems by working with global communities via the NASA Tournament Lab and internally via NASA Spark.
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Latest News
Success Stories
Lunar Challenge Winner Tests Technology in NASA Thermal Vacuum Chamber
One year after winning second place in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, Starpath tested their upgraded lunar rover in NASA's 20-foot thermal vacuum chamber.
NASA Challenge Winners Cook Up New Industry Developments
Three Deep Space Food Challenge winners take their technology to new heights – figuratively and literally – through commercial partnerships.
NASA’s Lunar Rescue System Challenge Supports Astronaut Safety
This challenge sought ideas to develop a compact, effective device capable of safely rescuing astronauts during emergency situations on the Moon’s surface.
NASA’s Spot the Station App Developed by and for the People
Through crowdsourcing competitions, NASA gained direct feedback to create key components of the Spot the Station app.
Public Participation in Machine Learning Bolsters Extraterrestrial Research
NASA ran two machine learning-based open science challenges in which solvers worldwide were invited to analyze chemical data.
NASA Opportunities Fuel Growth and Entrepreneurship for Bronco Space Club Students
Bronco Space matured more than just space technology as a result of winning funds from NASA’s TechLeap Prize competition. It expanded its capacity to mature space technologies long into the future.
NASA Challenge Gives Space Thruster Commercial Boost
As part of the Cube Quest challenge, Team Miles sent its CubeSat aboard the Artemis I mission in 2022. Since participating, the company Miles Space was formed by some members of Team Miles.
Solver Spotlight: Shobhana Gupta
NASA scientist Shobhana Gupta manages crowdsourcing activities for the public and participates in challenges NASA runs for its workforce.
Open Innovation: Boosting NASA higher, faster, and further
Read how open innovation projects from October 2020 to September 2022 advanced NASA’s mission and benefited participants.
Solver Spotlight: Eric Hinterman
Eric Hinterman and his friends have collaborated on more than 30 government challenges over three years.
Solver Spotlight: Lauren Fell
Challenges often provide more than just monetary awards. Some have prompted many participants to develop skills outside their traditional domains. Just ask star solver Lauren Fell.
