Help NASA build a home on the Moon and get $1 million prize: Check competition rules, key dates, how and where to apply

NASA is inviting students to help solve some of the engineering challenges involved in building a permanent human base on the Moon, with up to $1 million in prize money available through a new competition. The Moon Base Student Challenge will give high school and college students across the United States an opportunity to develop ideas for how astronauts could live and work on the lunar surface.

Announced on November 8 during a MAX POWER event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the competition is open to teams from eligible US educational institutions. NASA is looking for solutions that could contribute to its plans for establishing a base near the Moon's South Pole.

“We’re looking for students ready to think creatively, work as a team, and take on real problems connected to NASA’s future on the Moon,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.

What does NASA want students to design?

The competition focuses on six areas that NASA considers important for establishing and maintaining a lunar base:

- Power generation and storage

- Construction using lunar materials

- Life-support systems

- Surface mobility

- Communications networks

- Astronaut safety

Proposals must account for the Moon's difficult environmental conditions, including extreme temperatures, radiation, abrasive dust and the absence of an atmosphere. Designs must also consider how a base would function during extended periods of lunar darkness without depending on continuous supplies from Earth.

NASA's Moon Base Program manager Carlos García-Galán said the agency wanted students to bring fresh ideas to the project. He added that the proposed base would eventually support scientific research, technology testing and preparations for future human missions to Mars.

Who can participate and what are the rules?

According to the competition guidelines, each team must have two to five students and one adult coach. Students will compete in two divisions.

The High School Division is open to students aged 13 to 18 enrolled in eligible US high schools, home-school programmes or career and technical education programmes.

The Post-Secondary Division is for students aged 16 or above studying full-time or part-time at eligible US colleges and universities. Teams will be placed in the division based on their oldest member.

Students from other countries can participate if they are full-time students at an eligible US institution. Each student can join only one team.

Prior specialised engineering experience is not compulsory.

How to apply and important dates

Interested teams must register through NASA's STEM Gateway website. The competition will have multiple stages, beginning with a written proposal.

Teams must submit a five-to-seven-page concept paper explaining their proposed solution. Those selected as finalists will then prepare a video presentation of up to 10 minutes and a slide deck containing no more than 15 slides.

The important dates are:

- January 25, 2027: Registration closes

- February 22, 2027: First-phase concept papers due

- March 11, 2027: Finalists announced

- April 19, 2027: Finalist submissions due

- May 6, 2027: Winners announced

Teams will retain ownership of their ideas, although NASA may negotiate a non-exclusive licence to use them. The agency has announced a total prize pool of $1 million but has not specified how the money will be distributed among winners.