NASA welcomes applications from individuals, teams, and organizations or entities that have a recognized legal existence and structure under applicable law (State, Federal or Country) and that are in good standing in the jurisdiction under which they are organized with the following restrictions:

1. Individuals must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States and be 18 years of age or older.
2. Organizations must be an entity incorporated in and maintaining a primary place of business in the United States.  
3. Teams must be comprised of otherwise eligible individuals or organizations and led by a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident of the United States who is 18 years of age or older.

‍
U.S. government employees may participate so long as they are not acting within the scope of their position, rely on no facilities, access, personnel, knowledge, or other resources that are available to them as a result of their employment except for those resources available to all other participants on an equal basis.

Foreign citizens may only participate as (i) employees of an otherwise eligible U.S. entity who reside in the U.S., (ii) full-time students at an otherwise eligible U.S. university or college who reside in the U.S., or (iii) owners of less than 50% of the interests in an otherwise eligible U.S. entity who reside in the U.S.

Refer to the Rules for a complete set of eligibility requirements.

You must first register no later than Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at 5:00 PM Pacific. Registration is a simple two-step process. First, create a username and password, and then check your inbox to confirm your registration. Next, complete the online registration form. Once you are registered, applications are due no later than Wednesday, August 11, 2021, at 5:00 PM Pacific.

There will be three types of evaluation. During the Evaluation Panel judging, each valid application will receive scores and comments from a highly qualified panel of expert judges who will use a scoring rubric to evaluate their assigned applications. All scores are normalized to ensure fairness for everyone. The Selection Committee judges will review the top-scoring submissions and select up to four Winners to receive an initial $200,000 based on the combination of the resulting rank order from the Evaluation Panel, the scoring rubric, and the diversity of solutions.

During Payload Build Round 1 and Payload Build Round 2, Winners will have the opportunity to compete for additional awards of $200,000 and $100,000 each. Field Judges will conduct on-site visits in January and June 2022 to score the progress each Winner has made.

In addition to the awards of up to $500,000, NASA intends to award a suborbital flight test to each of the Winners of Payload Build Round 2. These flight tests will be conducted on an appropriate vehicle provided by one of the vendors contracted to provide flight services for NASA government-sponsored research.

Up to four winners will receive up to $500,000 to support the development of a flight-ready payload. An initial award of $200,000 each will be made to build their flight-ready payload according to their submitted applications within an eight-month period. During Payload Build Round 1 and Payload Build Round 2, Winners will have the opportunity to compete for additional awards of $200,000 and $100,000 each. Field Judges will conduct on-site visits in January and June 2022 to score the progress each Winner has made.

NASA intends to award a suborbital flight test to each of the Winners of Payload Build Round 2. These flight tests will be conducted on an appropriate vehicle provided by one of the vendors contracted to provide flight services for NASA government-sponsored research.