Suggested Searches

Lunabotics robot in dirt terrain

Lunabotics robot in rocky terrain

Students working on a Lunabotics mining craft

Lunabotics Challenge

Lunabotics provides accredited institutions of higher learning students (vocational-technical, college, university) an opportunity to apply the NASA systems engineering process to design and build a prototype robot. This robot would be capable of performing the proposed operations on the Lunar surface in support of future Artemis mission goals.

Requirements Released

Aug. 09, 2023

Proposals Due

Sept. 13, 2023

Eligibility

Vocational / Technical Schools, Colleges / Universities in the U.S.

Location and Date

Kennedy Space Center,
May 13 -17, 2024

Announcement

The 2024 Lunabotics Challenge Qualification event will be taking place at the University of Central Florida’s Exolith Lab.

The guidebook for this event is can be found here: Lunabotics Challenge – Exolith Lab

How to Apply

NASA Gateway OSTEM Application Portal

For more information on how to navigate the NASA Gateway OSTEM Application Website see “Appendix A. Gateway Team Application Instructions” at the end of the Lunabotics Guidebook. The Team Lead starts the team application process and then invites students and faculty advisor(s) to apply within the website.

Inside the Lunarena, university students maneuver their remote-controlled excavators, called Lunabots, in a "sand box" of BP-1.

Join Artemis!

Authentic, hands-on learning experiences give students in middle school all the way through graduate school a chance to flex their design and engineering skills as they build and launch high-powered rockets, design robots capable of mining the Moon’s surface or traversing difficult lunar terrain, create human-powered rovers, and test technologies and tools to assist future astronauts working on the Moon.

Student using virtual reality goggles

Contact Us

NASA Project Manager

Richard Johanboeke

Email: ksc-robotic-mining-competition@mail.nasa.gov

Public Inquiries

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Phone: 321.867.5000

Email: KSC-Public-Inquiries@mail.nasa.gov

Learn More and Get Involved

A man in a blue shirt, installing an environmental barrier coated ceramic matrix composite sample.

Systems Engineering

This series introduces the key products and techniques of systems engineering and how to apply them to your project. The focus is on university-level projects and competitions such as NASA LUNABOTICS and NASA MINDS, but is applicable more widely to projects in general.

In this view looking up, the work platforms are being retracted from the Space Launch System rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis

With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

A NASA artist's concept of an astronaut in an exploration space suit setting up a science experiment on the lunar surface.

Technology Drives Exploration

NASA technology development supports the nation’s innovation economy by creating solutions for space exploration that also generate tangible benefits for life on Earth. NASA is investing in the future of innovation.

Concept image showing ISRU system concept for autonomous robotic excavation and processing of Mars soil to extract water for use

In-Situ Resource Utilization

When NASA returns to the Moon with the Artemis program, we plan to put in place sustainable infrastructure that will allow us to explore and study more of the Moon than ever before.

Orion in space with the Earth and Earth's moon shown in the background

NASA’s Plans to Travel Beyond the Moon

Artemis 1 will be the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Planet Earth

NASA 2022: A Year of Innovation

With a budget increase of more than 6% from the previous year, NASA will continue to boost its ingenuity in exploration, technology, aeronautics and science. This is a year of innovation.

Photo from SLS Core Stage Installation

Time-lapse of Core Stage Stacking

The Space Launch System rocket core stage for the first Artemis mission was lifted and stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. The core stage was placed in between the already stacked twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher.

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, is lifted above the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 20, 2021. The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration.

A 360 Look at the Artemis I Core Stage Lift and Mate

Get the full Space Launch System core stage experience, and watch in 360 degrees as teams lift the largest part of the rocket in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and move it over to High Bay 3.

Artemis I launching

A 360 Look at the Artemis I Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter Lift

The stage adapter sits between the massive core stage of the rocket and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

For Colleges and Universities

Careers in Engineering

Humans to Mars

Like the Moon, Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans…

NASA STEM Opportunities and Activities For Students