NASA STEM Opportunities and Activities for Students

NASA runs one of the largest collections of free student programs in the world. Every year, thousands of students in middle school, high school, community college, and university take part in NASA challenges, internships, and design competitions. Some are open only to students in the United States, while a few, like the Space Apps Challenge, welcome students from any country. Through these programs, students design rovers, build rockets, code apps, test spacesuit displays, and even help NASA plan future missions to the Moon and Mars. Most of these opportunities are free to join, and many offer cash prizes, stipends, mentorship from real NASA engineers, or a trip to a NASA center.

Below, we have organized every major program with its eligibility rules, key dates, and a direct link so you can apply. You can check out BS, MS, PhD and postdoc positions here.

Programs for Middle School and High School Students:

NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC)

HERC challenges student teams to design and build a rover that can travel across a rough, half mile course built to look like the surface of the Moon or Mars. There are two divisions. In the human powered division, students pedal and steer the rover themselves, much like astronauts once did. In the remote controlled division, teams drive a pressurized rover from a distance. Along the way, rovers must collect soil, water, and air samples, just as a real exploration mission would.

• Grade levels: Middle school, high school, and college or university.
• Who can join: U.S. and international student teams.
• Where it happens: U.S. Space and Rocket Center, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
• Recent event: April 9 to 11, 2026.

Learn more: NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

App Development Challenge (ADC):

The ADC is a coding competition where NASA gives student teams a real technical problem tied to its Artemis Moon missions. Recent challenges have asked teams to build an app that displays a spacecraft’s flight path and communication data using real mission numbers. Teams work for about ten weeks, then submit a video of their finished app.

Grade levels: Middle school (grades 5 to 8) and high school (grades 9 to 12).
Team size: At least five students plus one lead teacher.
Status: The ADC is on pause for the 2026 school year and may return in 2027, so check the page below before planning around it.

Learn more: App Development Challenge

NASA Student Launch:

Student Launch is a nine month, hands on rocketry program. Teams design, build, test, and finally launch a high powered rocket carrying a science or engineering payload, following the same kind of design reviews NASA engineers use on real missions.

• Grade levels: Two divisions exist. Any U.S. college or university can apply directly to the competitive University Student Launch Initiative. Middle school and high school teams join through the non competitive Student Launch Initiative, but they must first place in the top 25 at the American Rocketry Challenge, or top 5 at Rockets for Schools, and complete an Advanced Rocketry Workshop.
• Where it happens: Huntsville, Alabama.
• Recent proposal deadline: September 14, 2026, for the 2027 competition.

Learn more: NASA Student Launch

High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH):

HUNCH connects middle and high school classrooms with NASA engineers to build real hardware, software, and even meals used by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Students can join programs in engineering and prototyping, sewing flight articles, culinary design, video production, and more.

• Grade levels: Middle school and high school, public, private, or home schooled.
• How to join: Any school can register through a regional HUNCH mentor. There is no cost to join.

Learn more: HUNCH

NASA TechRise Student Challenge

TechRise invites student teams to design a science or technology experiment that can fly on a real NASA supported test flight, either a high altitude balloon or a suborbital spaceship. Sixty winning teams each receive $1,500 and a starter kit, then build their experiment with support from NASA advisors before it actually flies.

• Grade levels: Grades 6 through 12, attending the same U.S. public, private, or charter school (including U.S. territories). Homeschool students are only eligible if affiliated with a school that carries liability insurance.
• Team size: At least four students plus one team lead.
• Prize: $1,500 per winning team, plus a flight test of their experiment.
• Recent entry deadline: November 2, 2026.

Learn more: NASA TechRise Student Challenge

Dream with Us Design Challenge:

Every year, NASA Aeronautics gives students a real world aviation problem and asks them to imagine a creative solution. Recent challenges have asked teams to design drones for agriculture or new aircraft for disaster response. Submissions can be a video, website, brochure, or another creative format.

• Grade levels: Grades 6 through 12 (ages 13 to 18), attending public, private, parochial, or home school in the United States, including children of U.S. military members stationed abroad.
• Team size: Two to four students per team.

Learn more: Dream with Us Design Challenge

Robotics Alliance Project:

NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project supports national robotics competitions including FIRST Robotics Competition, Best Robotics, and Botball. NASA sponsors grants that help cover team registration fees, especially for new teams.

• Grade levels: FIRST Robotics is for high school teams. Best Robotics and Botball welcome middle and high school teams.
• Support offered: Registration grants, awarded to selected teams each fall, along with a robotics design guide for all skill levels.

Learn more: Robotics Alliance Project

NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute:

This is a free, week long, in person program at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Students spend five days working with NASA engineers on real problems, such as reducing jet engine noise or designing tires that do not need air for lunar missions.

• Grade levels: Students entering 11th or 12th grade.
• Requirements: Minimum 3.2 GPA verified by a school counselor, a teacher recommendation letter, and U.S. citizenship.
• Recent application deadline: May 1, 2026, for sessions held in July.

Learn more: NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute

Hack Club Stardance Challenge

Stardance is a free, online, summer long build challenge run by the nonprofit Hack Club in partnership with NASA. Students use real NASA data from missions like Artemis and the James Webb Space Telescope to build anything from apps and websites to circuit boards and simulations. No coding experience is required, and every logged hour of work earns points that can be traded for prizes such as laptops, drones, and 3D printers.

• Ages: 13 to 18, open worldwide.
• Challenge dates: June 1 through September 30, 2026.
• Cost: Free.

Learn more: Hack Club Stardance Challenge

Program for Community College Students:

NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS)

NCAS is built specifically for community college students, and there is no minimum GPA requirement. The program has two main missions. Mission 1, Discover, is a five week online course about NASA’s history and current missions. Mission 2, Explore, places successful students on a team to design, build, and test a robotic rover, either at a NASA center or through a virtual experience. Strong performers can go on to a paid, NCAS sponsored NASA internship.

• Eligibility: U.S. citizen, high school graduate or equivalent, at least 18 years old, currently attending a U.S. community college, and enrolled in or having completed at least 9 hours of STEM coursework. Extra requirement: Able to commit to a five week online session, with reliable internet access.
• How to apply: Through NASA STEM Gateway.

Learn more: NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars

Programs for College and University Students

NASA Undergraduate Student Design Projects

This program pairs undergraduate teams with a faculty advisor and a NASA mentor to work on a real NASA research problem for a full academic year. Projects fall into three categories: building a physical prototype, running a computer simulation, or producing a theoretical or analytical report. Selected teams can also receive funding to help build their project.

• Eligibility: Full time faculty at an ABET accredited U.S. institution, who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, applies on behalf of a student team.
• Funding: Up to $5,000 for prototype projects, $3,000 for simulation projects.
• Recent application deadline: September 14, 2026.
• Event dates: August 2026 through April 2027, run virtually.

Learn more: NASA Undergraduate Student Design Projects

NASA Internship Programs

NASA offers paid internships year round through two main tracks. The Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) track is open to high school through graduate students in almost any major, not just STEM fields. The Pathways track is a more direct route toward a full time NASA career after graduation. Interns work at NASA centers across the country, sometimes remotely, and receive a stipend based on their academic level.

• Eligibility (OSTEM): U.S. citizen, at least 16 years old, enrolled at least half time in a certificate or degree program, with a minimum GPA of 3.0.
• Eligibility (Pathways): Similar age and citizenship rules, minimum GPA of 2.9, able to work at least 480 hours before graduating.
• Session lengths: Summer sessions run 10 weeks; spring and fall sessions run 15 to 16 weeks.
• How to apply: OSTEM through NASA STEM Gateway, Pathways through USAJOBS.

Learn more: NASA Internship Programs

NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS)

NASA SUITS challenges college teams to design an information display for astronauts, built inside an augmented reality headset. The goal is to help future Artemis astronauts see navigation data, task lists, and health readings while wearing a spacesuit on the Moon. Selected teams travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center to test their designs during an onsite test week.

• Eligibility: Full time undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at a U.S. institution of higher learning, including community colleges. Team members must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to attend the onsite testing.
• Recent onsite test week: May 2026, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Learn more: NASA SUITS

Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT)

Micro-g NExT challenges undergraduate teams to design and build a tool that could genuinely help astronauts during a spacewalk. Professional divers then test each team’s prototype inside NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a giant pool that simulates the feeling of weightlessness, while students direct the test from a control room.

• Eligibility: Enrolled as an undergraduate at an accredited U.S. institution, including community colleges, at least 16 years old by the time of the trip to Houston, and a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
• Where it happens: NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
• Recent test week: June 1 to 3, 2026.

Learn more: Micro-g NExT

Lunabotics Challenge

Lunabotics asks college teams to design and build a robot capable of construction work on the Moon, such as digging soil and building a protective berm out of simulated lunar dirt. Teams follow NASA’s own systems engineering process from proposal through final testing.

• Eligibility: Students at accredited U.S. institutions of higher learning, including community colleges and technical or trade schools.
• Where it happens: Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Recent event: May 2026, with the 2027 challenge moving to a shorter, one week format.

Learn more: Lunabotics Challenge

RockSat-C

RockSat-C gives college students the rare chance to design and build a real science experiment that flies to space on a NASA sounding rocket launched from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Students handle the entire design process themselves, from early planning reviews through the actual rocket launch, with only light support from faculty or industry mentors.

• Eligibility: Open to teams from U.S. educational institutions, including universities, colleges, and technical schools. The experiment must be mostly student built.
• How to join: Submit an Intent to Fly Form, usually due in September.
• Where it happens: NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Learn more: RockSat-C

NASA’s Gateways to Blue Skies Competition

Blue Skies asks multidisciplinary college teams to imagine a new aviation technology built around a different real world theme each year, such as agriculture, clean energy, or aircraft maintenance. Finalist teams receive a stipend to attend an in person forum at a NASA center, and past winners have gone on to NASA internships.

• Eligibility: Teams of two to six students from accredited U.S. post secondary institutions, including community and technical colleges. At least two student members must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who are 18 or older.
• Prize: Finalist teams receive a stipend (recently around $9,000) to attend the Blue Skies Forum, plus a chance at NASA internships.

Learn more: Gateways to Blue Skies Competition

RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts, Academic Linkage)

RASC-AL invites undergraduate and graduate teams to design bold new concepts for exploring the Moon and Mars, based on a set of themes NASA releases each year. Finalist teams present their work at the RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

• Eligibility: Full time or part time undergraduate or graduate students at an accredited U.S. community college, college, or university. Community college teams are specifically encouraged to apply.
• Prize: Finalist teams recently received a $7,500 award to attend the forum.

Learn more: RASC-AL Competition

NASA Human Lander Challenge (HuLC)

HuLC asks college teams to solve real engineering problems tied to the human landers that will carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface under NASA’s Artemis program. Each year’s theme focuses on a different technical area, such as cryogenic fuel storage or life support system noise reduction.

• Eligibility: Full time or part time undergraduate or graduate students at an accredited U.S. community college, college, or university.
• Recent proposal deadline: March 2026.
• Total prizes: Around $27,000 in recent cycles.

Learn more: NASA Human Lander Challenge

NASA ORBIT (Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology for the Workforce)

NASA ORBIT is a newer, multi phase challenge with two tracks. One track focuses on technology that benefits life on Earth, and the other focuses on new technology for space exploration. Teams that succeed in both tracks can qualify for an extra integration bonus. Winners receive mentorship, cash prizes, and access to an exclusive accelerator program aimed at launching STEM and entrepreneurship careers.

• Eligibility: Teams are led by a Minority Serving Institution, Historically Black College or University, or Tribal College or University, but can include students from any accredited U.S. college or university.
• Team size: Up to six students, supported by at least one faculty advisor.
• Total prizes: Up to $380,000 across all teams.

Learn more: NASA ORBIT

Program Open to Everyone, Worldwide:

NASA International Space Apps Challenge

Space Apps is the world’s largest annual hackathon, and it is genuinely open to anyone, anywhere. Over one weekend, participants form teams and use free NASA data to build a solution to a real world challenge, whether that is a piece of software, a piece of art, or a public awareness campaign. No coding background, degree, or NASA connection is required.

• Eligibility: Open to all ages, all skill levels, and all countries. There is no minimum age, though participants under 18 must be registered by a parent or guardian and stay with them during the event.
• Team size: Up to six people per team.
• Recent event: November 14 to 15, 2026, held both in person at local sites around the world and online through a virtual event.
• Cost: Free.

Learn more: NASA International Space Apps Challenge

How to Get Started

Because each program runs on its own schedule and has its own rules, a little preparation goes a long way before you apply.

• Confirm your grade level or academic status matches the program’s requirements
• Check the citizenship or residency rules, since several programs are limited to U.S. citizens or permanent residents
• Note the deadline well in advance, since many of these programs only accept applications once a year
• Most college level programs apply through NASA STEM Gateway, so creating an account early is a good first step
• Bookmark the official program page, since dates and themes are updated every year