NASA Competition Invites Students to Help Imagine a Future Enabled by Lunar Technologies

NASA has opened the 2027 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, asking U.S.-based collegiate teams to propose bold, original concepts for aerospace innovation that could help the agency envision a future on the Moon enabled by new technology. The focus is on new operations paradigms and technologies needed for sustained operations in the lunar South Pole region, with themes including prospecting in permanently shadowed lunar craters, transit pathway construction, lunar resource exploration, and smart/resilient lunar habitats.

Teams must submit a non-binding notice of intent by Tuesday, Oct. 13, and may join a Q&A session with NASA experts on Oct. 27. Full proposals with accompanying videos are due Feb. 24, 2027. Up to 14 teams will be selected as finalists, each receiving a $7,500 award to further develop their concept, write a technical paper, and create a technical poster. Finalists will present at the 2027 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 7–10, and the top two overall teams will earn an additional monetary award and an invitation to present at an aerospace conference later that year.

Since 2002, RASC-AL has connected university researchers with NASA's technology and engineering challenges, fostering aerospace concepts, technology, and prototyping. NASA officials emphasize that the program both accelerates the technology needed for lunar exploration and provides a development opportunity for the next generation of aerospace innovators and leaders.