NASA’s 2027 Human Lander Challenge Seeks Student Ideas for Reliable Lunar Communications

NASA’s 2027 Human Lander Challenge is inviting college students to develop solutions for one of the most important needs in continued lunar exploration: reliable communications.

Why Lunar Communications Matter

As NASA prepares for an extended human presence on the Moon through the Artemis and Lunar Base programs, communications systems will become as important as spacecraft and rockets. Resilient communications connect astronauts, spacecraft, habitats, landers, mission support teams on Earth, and more.

Reliable connectivity is essential for astronaut safety, complex mission operations, and timely decision-making in the harsh and remote lunar environment.

“Reliable communications will be central to exploration and operations on the Moon,” said Jeremy Del Greco, communications integration leader for the Human Landing System program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “As Artemis and Moonbase missions expand our presence beyond Earth, we need reliable connectivity to the lunar surface and beyond. The 2027 Human Lander Challenge gives students the opportunity to help shape tomorrow’s communications capabilities and support future lunar exploration.”

What the 2027 Human Lander Challenge Will Ask Students to Develop

The 2027 competition will challenge U.S.-based university teams and their faculty advisors to create innovative, system-level solutions that improve understanding, establishment, and optimization of lunar surface communications for landers and surface operations. Proposed solutions must be implementable within 3–5 years.

Teams that plan to participate must submit a non-binding letter of intent by Thursday, October 15. Proposal packages, including a 5–7-page proposal and a two-minute video, are due March 4, 2027.

NASA’s Three Focus Areas for Lunar Communications

Teams may propose solutions outside these areas, but NASA has identified three main categories for advancing future lunar communications capabilities:

• Hardware
  • Space-rated wireless networking and electronics
  • Antenna signal propagation, modeling, and environmental mitigation
• Software
  • Data efficiency and link optimization
  • Network management and scheduling
• Architecture
  • Surface communication system architecture
  • Orbital communication system architecture

Finalists, Funding, and Competition Prizes

Following the evaluation of Phase 1 proposal packages, up to 12 finalist teams will be selected to receive $9,000 and advance to Phase 2.

Phase 2 will include final design reviews from June 21–24, 2027, in Huntsville, Alabama, home of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The top three teams will share a total prize pool of $18,000.

About NASA’s Human Lander Challenge

The Human Lander Challenge is administered by the National Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics on behalf of the National Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The competition supports NASA’s efforts to foster innovative solutions for areas of the long-term human spaceflight program on the Moon.

The Human Lander Challenge is sponsored by NASA’s Human Space Flight Mission Directorate. Learn more through the Human Landing System Program Secretariat.

Through the Artemis program, NASA sends astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery and economic benefit, while laying the groundwork for the first manned mission to Mars for the benefit of all.

Learn more about NASA’s Human Lander Challenge and how to participate below.