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Meet the
Winners
NASA has named three Winners of the Universal Payload Interface Challenge.
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Universal Payload Interface Challenge
Develop interface systems that easily integrate diverse space payloads onto flight vehicles
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Photo Credit: Orion Labs
Advancing Payload Integration
To support future missions, NASA seeks to reduce the cost and complexity of payload integration through an optimized interface system that enables easy integration of diverse payloads onto various flight vehicles, including suborbital, orbital, and planetary lander vehicles.
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Register
Do you have an interface system that could efficiently integrate diverse payloads onto a range of flight vehicles? We would love to know about it! You must first register no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
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Photo Credit: NASA
Apply
Individuals, teams, and organizations that meet the eligibility criteria are welcome to submit technologies. Applications should focus on developing an optimized interface system that enables easy integration of laboratory payloads onto suborbital, orbital, and planetary lander vehicles. Apply no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, February 22, 2024.
APPLICATION
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Photo Credit: NASA/Dominic Hart
Evaluation
Each valid application receives scores and comments from five Evaluation Panel judges, using a scoring rubric with four criteria: relevant, verifiable, achievable, and feasible for flight. All scores are normalized to ensure fairness. The Selection Committee will choose Winners to each receive an initial $200,000 award, with the chance for each to win up to $650,000 total and the opportunity for a flight to test their technology at no cost.
SCORING PROCESS
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Photo Credit: NASA
System Build Round 1
During System Build Round 1, Winners will have the opportunity to win an additional award of $200,000 each. Winners will participate in a kickoff call to present their plans for the system’s development, as well as regularly scheduled conference calls to discuss their progress. Field Judges will conduct an on-site visit in October 2024 to score the Winner’s progress and determine if they qualify for the Round 1 award.
ROUND 1
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Photo Credit: NASA
System Build Round 2
Upon successful completion of System Build Round 1, Winners have the opportunity to win an additional award of $100,000 each. Winners will participate in regularly scheduled conference calls to present their progress on plans for the system’s development. Field Judges will conduct an on-site visit in March 2025 to score the Winner’s progress and determine if they qualify for the Round 2 award.
Round 2
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Photo Credit: Aerostar
Performance Incentive Phase
To win an additional award of $150,000 during the Performance Incentive Phase, a System Build Round 2 Winner must meet or exceed targets outlined in the Technical Guidelines and integrate a payload into a flight vehicle – both of which will be assigned by NASA – within a five-month timeframe.
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Photo Credit: World View
Questions and Answers
Get answers to frequently asked questions. Don’t see your question answered? View the full list of FAQs, or email us.
Get answers to frequently asked questions. View the full list of FAQs or email us.
What is the NASA TechLeap Prize?

To support future missions and reduce risk, NASA created the TechLeap Prize to rapidly identify and develop technologies of significant interest through a series of challenges. Participants in these challenges submit an application to develop a specific technology and then compete for awards to build the technology. As an added incentive, NASA intends to provide a flight test to the Winners of each challenge.

What is the Universal Payload Interface Challenge (UPIC)?

The Universal Payload Interface Challenge is the third NASA TechLeap Prize competition.

One of the many complex aspects of spaceflight is the design of interfaces for payloads that fly aboard host vehicles. NASA would like to see payloads get to flight test as quickly as possible, but the process to ensure that a payload can interface appropriately with the flight vehicle is often complex and time-consuming. How do you efficiently and effectively facilitate the operations and safety of disparately designed and developed payloads and ensure that they function appropriately across a variety of flight vehicles?

UPIC is seeking solutions to this problem from eligible individuals, teams, and organizations who can develop a flight-ready universal payload interface — an optimized interface system that enables easy integration of diverse space payloads onto various flight vehicles. NASA is seeking proposed universal payload interfaces that seamlessly adapt a diverse range of small space-based payloads (e.g., technologies, laboratory instruments, scientific experiments) for testing aboard various commercial flight vehicles (e.g., suborbital, orbital, planetary lander) and address the most common elements of interfaces.

Refer to the Technical Guidelines for additional details.

Who can participate?

The NASA TechLeap Prize challenges are open competitions designed to discover promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce. NASA encourages participation from teams who may not have previously engaged in other NASA funding opportunities.

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 composed 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 and 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. Employees and contractors of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are not eligible to win an award.

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.

Additionally, NASA encourages participation from teams who demonstrate a commitment to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

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

How do I submit an application?

Please review the application to better understand the submission requirements, as well as the scoring rubric to learn more about what constitutes a strong application. In order to participate in the UPIC Challenge, you must first register no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, February 1, 2024. Registration is a simple two-step process. First, create a username and password, then check your email inbox to confirm your registration. Next, complete the online registration form. Once you are registered, applications are due no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

How will applications be evaluated and what can we win?

There will be three types of evaluation. During Evaluation Panel review, 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. Potential biases in Evaluation Panel review are addressed through our training, which includes unconscious bias training for each member of the Evaluation Panel. All scores are normalized to ensure fairness for everyone.  

The Selection Committee judges will review top-scoring submissions and select up to three Winners based on the resulting rank order from the Evaluation Panel, scoring rubric, and diversity of solutions. Winners will each receive an initial award of $200,000, with the chance to win a total of up to $650,000 each and the opportunity for a flight test of their system.  

During System Build Round 1 and System Build Round 2, Winners each will have the opportunity to win additional awards of $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. Field Judges will conduct on-site visits in October 2024 and March 2025 to score the progress each Winner has made.  

To win an additional award of $150,000 during the Performance Incentive Phase, a System Build Round 2 Winner must meet or exceed targets outlined in the Technical Guidelines and integrate a payload into a flight vehicle – both of which will be assigned by NASA – within a five-month timeframe. NASA also intends to provide the opportunity for a flight test to each of the Winners.

About Flight Opportunities
Flight Opportunities rapidly demonstrates technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. Testing on orbital platforms is provided in cooperation with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program. Flight Opportunities matures capabilities needed for NASA missions and commercial applications while strategically investing in the growth of the U.S. commercial spaceflight industry.

Flight tests take technologies from ground-based laboratories into relevant environments to increase technology readiness and validate feasibility while reducing the costs and technical risks of future missions.

Awards and agreements for flight test are open to researchers from industry, academia, non-profit research institutes, and government organizations. These investments help advance technologies of interest to NASA while supporting commercial flight providers and expanding space-based applications and commerce. NASA encourages participation from teams who may not have previously engaged in other NASA funding opportunities.
VISIT FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES WEBSITEVISIT SMALL SPACECRAFT TECHNOLOGY WEBSITE
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Photo Credit: NASA
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