NASA has awarded $500,000 to seven winning teams in Phase 1 of the agency's Watts on the Moon Challenge. The technology design competition challenged U.S. innovators, from garage tinkerers to university researchers and startup entrepreneurs, to imagine a next-generation energy infrastructure on the Moon.
Sixty teams submitted original design concepts aimed at meeting future needs for robust and flexible technologies to power human and robotic outposts on the Moon. After evaluation by a judging panel, NASA announced the winners during a private awards ceremony on May 20.
The winning teams are:
- Astrobotic Technology, Inc. of Pittsburgh: $100,000
- Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan: $100,000
- Skycorp Inc. of Santa Clara, California: $100,000
- Astrolight of Rochester, New York: $50,000
- KC Space Pirates of Kansas City, Missouri: $50,000
- Moonlight from the University of California, Santa Barbara: $50,000
- Team FuelPod of Johnstown, Colorado: $50,000
Read the full release from NASA here.
To learn more about these winning teams and their contributions to this challenge, join us on June 15th at 3 pm EDT as HeroX and NASA sit down with the Phase 1 winners of the Watts on the Moon Challenge!
Register Here
Thank you to every team who participated wholeheartedly in this challenge. HeroX and NASA look forward to seeing how everyone keeps pushing innovation to the limit in the future.
Watch the recording of the winners’ announcement below:
