NASA Seeks Proposals for 2026 Student Launch Challenge

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NASA is kicking off the 2026 Student Launch challenge, looking for new student teams to design, build, and launch high-powered rockets with a scientific or engineering payload next April.

The agency is seeking proposals until Monday, Sept. 22. Details about this year's challenge are in the 2026 handbook, which outlines the requirements for middle school, high school, and college students to participate. After a competitive proposal selection process, selected teams must meet documentation milestones and undergo detailed reviews throughout the activity year.

NASA's Student Launch, a STEM competition, officially kicks off its 26th anniversary with the 2026 handbook.

"These bright students rise to a nine-month challenge for Student Launch that tests their skills in engineering, design, and teamwork," said Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA's Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region. "They are part of the Golden Age of explorers - the future scientists, engineers, and innovators who will lead us into the future of space exploration."

Student Launch will culminate with on-site events starting on April 22, 2026. Final launches are scheduled for April 25, at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama, near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Each year, NASA updates the university payload challenge to reflect current scientific and exploration missions. For the 2026 season, the payload challenge will take inspiration from the Artemis missions, which seek to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. This year's payload challenge tasks college and university teams with designing, building, and flying a habitat to safely house four STEMnauts - non-living objects representing astronauts - during extended missions. The habitat must include equipment capable of both collecting and testing soil samples to support agricultural research operations.

Nearly 1,000 students participated in the 2025 Student Launch competition - making up 71 teams from across the United States. Teams launched their rockets to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while attempting to make a successful landing and executing the payload mission.

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