There will be a 2026 Human Lander Student Competition.
Please check back in late August for Updates!

ANNOUNCING NASA’S 2026 HUMAN LANDER CHALLENGE!

NASA’s Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) is an initiative supporting NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate’s (ESDMD’s) efforts to explore innovative solutions for a variety of known HLS challenge areas. Through this competition, college students contribute to the advancement of HLS technologies, concepts, and approaches. Improvements in these technology areas have the potential to revolutionize NASA’s approach to space exploration, and contributions from the academic community are a valuable part of the journey to discovery. HuLC is open to teams comprised of full-time or part-time undergraduate and/or graduate students at an accredited U.S.-based community college, college, or university. HuLC projects allow students to incorporate their coursework into real aerospace design concepts and work together in a team environment. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.

2026 CHALLENGE THEME
Long Duration Spaceflight Environmental Control Life Support System (ECLSS)

As human exploration pushes beyond low Earth orbit toward sustained lunar presence and future missions to Mars, the role of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) becomes increasingly vital. Designing ECLSS for deep space is uniquely challenging due to mission duration, limited resupply, and extreme environmental conditions.

NASA's 2026 Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) invites collegiate student teams to develop innovative, systems-level solutions that improve critical aspects of Environmental Control Life Support System (ECLSS) performance, in response to one of the following subtopic areas:

  • Noise Suppression and Control
  • Sensor Reduction in Hardware Health Monitoring Systems
  • Potable Water Dispenser
  • Fluid Transfer Between Surface Assets on the Moon and Mars

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2025 HuLC WINNERS!

First Place
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, “Electrical Capacitance to High-resolution Observation (ECHO)”
Second Place
Old Dominion University, “Structural Tensegrity for Optimized Retention in Microgravity (STORM)”
Third Place
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “THERMOS: Translunar Heat Rejection and Mixing for Orbital Sustainability”
Best Prototype
Ohio State University, “Autonomous Magnetized Cryo-Couplers with Active Alignment Control for Propellant Transfer (AMCC-ACC)”
Best Presentation
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, “ECLIPSE: Efficient Cryogenic Low Invasive Propellant Supply Exchange”
Best Poster
Washington State University, “CYPRESS (CrYogenic Performance REfueling Safety System) Coupler for Liquid Hydrogen Transfer”

NASA’S 2025 HuLC Competition Finalists

  • California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, “THERMOSPRING: Thermal Exchange Reduction Mechanism using Optimized SPRING”
  • Colorado School of Mines, “MAST: Modular Adaptive Support Technology”
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, “Electrical Capacitance to High-resolution Observation (ECHO)”
  • Jacksonville University, “Cryogenic Complex: Cryogenic Tanks and Storage Systems – On the Moon and Cislunar Orbit”
  • Jacksonville University, “Cryogenic Fuel Storage and Transfer: The Human Interface – Monitoring and Mitigating Risks”
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “THERMOS: Translunar HEat Rejection and Mixing for Orbital Sustainability”
  • Ohio State University, “Autonomous Magnetized Cryo-Couplers with Active Alignment Control for Propellant Transfer (AMCC-AAC)”
  • Old Dominion University, “Structural Tensegrity for Optimized Retention in Microgravity (STORM)”
  • Texas A&M University, “Next-generation Cryogenic Transfer and Autonomous Refueling (NeCTAR)”
  • The College of New Jersey, “Cryogenic Orbital Siphoning System (CROSS)”
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, “ECLIPSE: Efficient Cryogenic Low Invasive Propellant Supply Exchange”
  • Washington State University, “CYPRESS (CrYogenic Performance REfueling Safety System) Coupler for Liquid Hydrogen Transfer”
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