NASA Selects University Finalists for Technology Concepts Competition
NASA has selected 14 university teams as finalists in the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC‑AL) Competition, part of the agency’s prizes, challenges and crowdsourcing program under the Space Technology Mission Directorate. The announcement on March 24, 2026 identifies student groups whose proposals and concept videos met NASA’s technical criteria across exploration themes, advancing them to develop full technical papers and present their work at the 2026 RASC‑AL Forum scheduled for June 2–5 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
The RASC‑AL Competition challenges interdisciplinary student teams to address complex space and planetary mission design problems aligned with NASA’s exploration objectives. Technical focus areas for the 2026 cycle include Communications, Positioning, Navigation and Timing architectures for Mars surface operations, Lunar Surface Power and Power Management and Distribution systems, Lunar Sample Return concepts, and Lunar technology demonstrations leveraging common infrastructure. Finalist institutions include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Tech, Wichita State University, and others, each proposing system‑level concepts such as advanced lunar power systems, autonomous surface operations, Mars infrastructure frameworks and innovative sample staging approaches.
Advancing to the finalist stage enables participating students to refine their designs with guidance from NASA subject matter experts and aerospace industry reviewers in preparation for the in‑person forum. Presentation of their full proposals will be evaluated for technical merit and relevance to NASA’s long‑term human and robotic exploration planning. The RASC‑AL Competition supports workforce development by integrating academic research with real mission challenges, exposing future engineers to systems engineering, architecture trade studies and collaboration with agency personnel. Concepts emerging from RASC‑AL finalists contribute early insights that can inform NASA’s strategic directions for lunar and Mars mission systems.
