Cube Quest Challenge
Competition is still open!
Who is Eligible?
Eligibility: the Team Leader must be:
- a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, or
- an Entity that is incorporated in and maintains a primary place of business in the United States.
- Competitor Teams must furnish proof of eligibility (including proof of citizenship or permanent resident status, for Team Leader, and proof of incorporation and primary place of business, for an U.S. Entity) that is satisfactory to NASA in its sole discretion.
Eligibility of individuals and organizations to compete and win prizes is detailed in Rule 1 of the Cube Quest Challenge Operations and Rules document.
Documentation to indicate “buy in,” or agreement, of a launch service provider with the Competitor Team’s delivery plans.
Details of required submittals are in Section 4 of the Instructions for Competitors Obtaining their Own Launch.
Other helpful documents may be found at the reference materials section.
What are Competitor Teams?
A “competitor team” is any combination of eligible individuals or organizations, all working on a single CubeSat (and its ground systems and operations) for the purpose of competing in this Challenge. Competitor team responsibilities and team agreements are given in Rule 2 of the Operations and Rules document.
How Does A Competitor Team Register?
To compete and be eligible for prizes, each competitor team must submit two different data packages: first, teams submit a Registration Data Package; second, within 60 days after submitting the Registration Data Package (but at least 60 days before their CubeSat’s final integration with their deployment mechanism), teams submit a Mission Concept Registration Data Package. A team needs to submit each kind of data package only once, to be eligible for all the Ground Tournaments, the Lunar Derby, and the Deep Space Derby.
Where Do Competitor Teams Submit Registration Data?
The Registration Data Package and the Mission Concept Registration Data Package should be sent to the Cube Quest Administrator (ARC-CubeQuestChallenge@mail.nasa.gov).
Where Are the Details?
Registration data details, submittal instructions, and submittal format are in Section 5 of the Cube Quest Operations and Rules document. Mission Concept Registration Data Package is defined in Rule 3 of that document.
Still Have Questions?
If you have questions about eligibility or registration, send questions to the Cube Quest Challenge Administrator (ARC-CubeQuestChallenge@mail.nasa.gov) or the Centennial Challenge Program (hq-stmd-centennialchallenges@mail.nasa.gov).
REGISTRATION DATA PACKAGE
Registration details and instructions are repeated here for convenience, but in case of any discrepancy, the Rules document takes precedence over what’s written here – so be sure to refer to the Rules document!
Competitor Team Intellectual Property will not be divulged to anyone outside Challenge administration.
Registration Data Package (Operations and Rules, Sect. 5.3)
Competitor Teams must submit the following items to compete and be eligible for prizes:
- Competitor Team Name
- Competitor Team affiliation or sponsoring company/organization
- Team Leader Designation
- Team Leader Proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence
- Company/organization proof of U.S. incorporation and address of operations (if applicable)
- List of Team Members and appropriate proof of eligibility (if applicable). A Team Member can be an individual or an Entity. (see Rule 1.B)
- All appropriate Competitor Team contact information (phone number, email address, website links) to coordinate reviews, rules verifications, site visits, or other necessary forms of correspondence.
- Proof of Liability Coverage (see Rule 2.C)
- Acknowledgement to rules compliance. Any violation of rules is subject to review and possible removal from the Challenge. All Team Members must submit the following statement with his/her signature:
“I have read and will comply with the Cube Quest Challenge rules. I acknowledge that I satisfy the necessary requirements for challenge participation. Any misrepresentation of myself will result in Competitor Team disqualification. I also acknowledge that NASA will only disperse awarded prizes to the Team Leader and not to individual Team Members.”
Mission Concept Registration Data Package (Operations and Rules, Rule 3)
Competitor Teams must submit their Mission Concept Registration Data Package within 60 calendar days of submitting their Registration Data Package (and at least 60 days before their CubeSat’s final integration with their deployment mechanism). The Mission Concept Registration Data Package must include:
- Description of the concept of operations (particularly the CubeSat propulsion and telemetry concepts, articulated subsystems and mechanisms, and ground segment concepts)
- Conceptual mission design (particularly the planned trajectory, and navigation, command and control concepts)
- Conceptual method for your CubeSat disposal
- Team’s Plans for Radio Licensing and Operations
Submittal Format (Operations and Rules, Sect. 5.1)
All Challenge document submissions shall be written in Helvetica font style with minimum 12-point font size. Challenge presentations may use either Helvetica or Garamond font style with minimum 14-point font size. Arial is a suitable substitute when Helvetica or Garamond font styles are not available.
Document and presentation submissions shall be in Adobe portable document format (pdf). Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are suitable substitutes when pdf is not available. Hand written or drawn documents shall be scanned into Adobe pdf with minimum 400×400 dots per inch (dpi).
Active Challenges
The goal of the program is to stimulate innovation in basic and applied research, technology development, and prototype demonstration that have the potential for application to the performance of the space and aeronautical activities of the administration.
