NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics: Winning Student Teams Engineering Lunar Future

Resilient, efficient, and autonomous are key qualities NASA needs for its hardware, especially as it plans for a permanent Moon Base. The 2026 Lunabotics Challenge showcased these traits. College students from across the country gathered in Florida to demonstrate robotic technologies. Their goal was to build and maintain long-term lunar structures.

When the competition ended, the University of Virginia won the Off World Grand Prize. They completed all events and achieved the highest overall score.

"The Off World Grand Prize is really about everything," said Robert Mueller, a senior technologist at NASA Kennedy’s Swamp Works. He is also a lead judge and co-founder of the original Lunabotics challenge. "It’s a difficult prize to win, and it’s not obvious, because the team that built the biggest berm didn’t win. But on an actual lunar mission, it’s not just one thing that matters — it’s everything in the system."

Student Test Bed for Lunar Construction

NASA's annual Lunabotics Challenge is a two-semester competition. University students design, build, and test prototype lunar construction robots. They use NASA's systems engineering principles. The 2026 competition started last September. Teams submitted industry plans, engineering reports, and robot specifications.

Judges chose 47 teams to move to a qualifying round. This round took place at the University of Central Florida’s Exolith Lab. Robots had to excavate and collect simulated lunar soil. They then transported it across tough terrain and built a berm. A berm is a raised mound of soil used for structure, support, or protection.

The top 10 teams advanced to the three-day final round at NASA Kennedy. Judges looked at more than just berm size. Robot weight, communication performance, energy use, and autonomy all contributed to scores. These scores covered four main areas: a STEM industry plan, a systems engineering paper, presentations and demonstrations, and robotic construction.

The University of Virginia team did well in all areas. They also showed great preparation and resilience. During their first finals run, a wheel detached. The team quickly reconfigured the robot to work on three wheels and kept digging.

"When we saw the wheel break in the arena, we thought that was it," said Craig Kalkwarf. He is a fourth-year aerospace engineering and astronomy major and mechanical lead of the 22-member team. "But we came so prepared. We had metal wheels ready to swap out. We had a plan. We ultimately got the win, and part of that was planning for anything — and it worked out."

Engineering NASA’s Lunar Future

A key part of the Lunabotics Challenge is using NASA’s Systems Engineering Process. This is a mission-driven approach that combines hardware, software, people, and procedures. It creates complex, highly reliable systems.

Judges noted that the systems engineering skills shown this year were among the best in the challenge's 17-year history. Teams and their robots adapted well to obstacles. Many teams fixed wheel issues. Robots stuck in rough terrain broke free. One team continued even after its digger blades damaged the robot. This was after it successfully deposited enough material to create a large berm.

By the end of the competition, organizers praised how teams improved on past designs. Many teams had competed before. They were impressed by the number of fully autonomous robots. Last year, there were 12 autonomous robots. This year, that number grew to 27. This made the competition tougher and runs more efficient in the Artemis Arena. This arena is a large test bed filled with simulated lunar soil. It mimics the Moon's loose, uneven terrain.

"Teams excavated much more material than we anticipated," said Rich Johanboeke, the project manager. "This speaks to how teams have evolved previous design iterations and how much innovation we’re seeing from these students. It’s an exciting time!"

Challenge Designed for the Artemis Era

The Lunabotics Challenge happened just weeks after NASA’s Artemis II mission. It highlights steps toward a lasting human presence on the Moon. Autonomous robots that can shape lunar soil into berms will be crucial. They will protect landing sites, support power systems, and build future lunar outposts.

"This might be the first thing NASA does on the Moon Base — robotically building a berm using a local resource, the lunar soil," Mueller said. "We are watching and learning from these teams in preparation for a real mission launching in a few years, which is IPEx."

IPEx, or Infrastructure Pilot Excavator, was developed at Kennedy’s Swamp Works. It will launch to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. IPEx will dig and transport lunar regolith. These are vital skills for human exploration and using lunar resources.

Building an Engineering Pipeline to NASA

This year's Lunabotics Challenge celebrated student creativity. It also advanced technologies and engineering methods for lunar exploration.

For students, Lunabotics offers an immersive engineering experience. It mirrors real-world industry problem-solving. For NASA, the competition helps find new solutions to technical challenges. It also helps recruit the next generation of engineers and innovators.

"I think it’s everyone’s dream to come work at NASA," said Andrew Ebert, a mechanical engineering student from the College of DuPage. His team won the prize for building the biggest berm. "It’s always pushing the boundaries of what has ever been done by humans. In my opinion, it’s the coolest thing you can do in engineering."

The creativity and technical skills shown by these teams are shaping NASA’s path to a sustainable Moon Base. When lunar construction begins in a few years, the experience these young engineers gained will be very important for NASA.

"These students might be working for NASA by the time we start building on the Moon," Mueller said.

2026 Lunabotics Challenge Winners

Off World Grand Prize – Overall Excellence

• University of Virginia in Charlottesville

Lunabotics Construction Award

• 1st place: College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois
• 2nd place: University of Virginia
• 3rd place: Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan

Caterpillar Autonomy Award

• 1st place: The University of Alabama in Huntsville
• 2nd place: University of Virginia
• 3rd place: University of Utah in Salt Lake City
• 4th place: Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana
• 5th place: Iowa State University in Ames
• 6th place: College of DuPage

Lunabotics Efficient Use of Communications Power Award

• Iowa State University

Systems Engineering Paper

• 1st place: The University of Alabama
• 2nd place: University of Virginia
• 3rd place: University of Illinois in Chicago

Nova Award for Stellar Systems Engineering by a First Year School

• Laredo College in Laredo, Texas
• Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois

Systems Engineering Leaps & Bounds Award

• University of Virginia

Rocket Award for Accelerating Systems Engineering Mastery

• University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign

Presentations and Demonstrations

• 1st place: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico
• 2nd place: The University of Alabama
• 3rd place: Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado
• Honorable Mention: Michigan Technological University

Presentations and Demonstrations First Steps Awards

• Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Deep Dive & References

NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge