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A woman sits on a grassy turf field typing on her laptop, which also rests on the turf. Next to her is a robot she built for NASA’s Sample Return Robot Challenge. The robot is silver with wheels and lenses mounted on top.

Two astronauts on the moon look at a plant sprouting from the soil.

Left hand drawing a lightbulb in white chalk on a blackboard.

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 TechLeap Prize: Space Technology Payload Challenge

NASA intends to award up to $500,000 total plus the opportunity for a flight test to develop payloads and advance solutions to meet future exploration, science, and other mission needs.

South Pole Safety: Designing the NASA Lunar Rescue System

This challenge seeks a design that is low in mass and easy to deploy, enabling one astronaut crewmember to safely transport their partner back to the human landing system.

The Full Moon pictured above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station soared 262 miles above the Indian Ocean south of the African island nation of Madagascar.

Space Waste Revolution Challenge

NASA is seeking contributors for a groundbreaking research initiative focused on recycling polymer waste in space environments.

Power to Explore Student Challenge

K-12 students, your task is to plan a mission that uses Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) to a dark, dusty, or far away moon in our solar system.

NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge

This challenge offers $3 million in prizes for recycling solutions to improve sustainability of long-duration lunar missions.

2025 Human Lander Challenge

Student teams are invited to develop solutions to understand, mitigate potential problems, and mature advanced cryogenic fluid technologies.

2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition

Collegiate student teams are invited to conceptualize novel aviation systems that can be applied to agriculture by 2035 or sooner.

A device with black rings in a clear container floats in microgravity; a researcher with a head-mounted camera smiles at it. Background: Two researchers with surgical skull caps conduct experiments, their feet tucked under black straps to prevent floating.

Get Involved with NASA

Find more opportunities to get involved in initiatives across the agency.

Prizes, challenges, and crowdsourcing

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.

Crew of Two Astronauts in Space Suits Standing on the Moon Looking at the The Milky Way Galaxy. High Tech Concept of Moon Colonization and Space Travel.

Crew of Two Astronauts in Space Suits Standing on the Moon Looking at the The Milky Way Galaxy. High Tech Concept of Moon Colonization and Space Travel.

prizes, challenges, and crowdsourcing

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.

Artist rendering of a gold starsahde fully deployed in space.

Latest News

NASA TechLeap Prize: Space Technology Payload Challenge

3D Printable Bioreactor for Deep Space Food Production

South Pole Safety: Designing the NASA Lunar Rescue System

Space Waste Revolution Challenge

Public Participation in Machine Learning Bolsters Extraterrestrial Research

Open Innovation Success Stories

Boosting NASA Higher, Faster, and Farther

Read how prize competitions, challenges, and other crowdsourcing opportunities advance technology supporting NASA and benefit the solvers who participate.

Colorado School of Mines team members pouring regolith slag into tile sandcasting molds to review applicability for use as building products in the 2023 BIG Idea Challenge.

Colorado School of Mines team members pouring regolith slag into tile sandcasting molds to review applicability for use as building products in the 2023 BIG Idea Challenge.

Get Involved

Explore more opportunities to support NASA's missions.

Madyson Knox experiments with UV-sensitive beads.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Space Technology Mission Directorate

STMD Solicitations and Opportunities

Centennial Challenges

CoECI