Research and Technology Mission Directorate

Aeronautics
Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)
CoECI News
General
Get Involved
Opportunities to Contribute to NASA Missions & Get Involved
Prizes, Challenges, & Crowdsourcing News
Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program
University Innovation
NASA’s next Gateways to Blue Skies competition invites collegiate teams to imagine innovative new ways aircraft could inspect land-based infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels, to improve safety, reliability, and costs by 2035 or sooner.
Posted August 18, 2026
Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program
Get Involved
Langley Research Center
Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative
Opportunities to Contribute to NASA Missions & Get Involved
Prizes, Challenges, & Crowdsourcing News
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Space Technology Mission Directorate
NASA is asking U.S.-based collegiate teams to submit bold, original concepts to the 2027 edition of a student challenge focused on aerospace innovation that could help the agency envision a future on the Moon shaped by new technology.  The latest NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition invites student
Posted August 14, 2026
Communicating and Navigating with Missions
Artemis
Commercial Space
Goddard Space Flight Center
Moon Base
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Space Communications & Navigation Program
NASA delivered the NavCube3-mini payload on July 13 to Intuitive Machines for integration into Altus-1, the company’s first lunar relay satellite, marking an important milestone in the development of future lunar communications and navigation services. The lunar relays are designed to enable communications and navigation for astronauts and rovers o
Posted August 3, 2026
Aeronautics
Aerosciences Evaluation Test Capabilities
Langley Research Center
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
NASA opened its newest wind tunnel, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, Friday, providing a critical resource for the agency and its partners to test the safety and performance of future generations of aircraft, rockets, and space exploration vehicles.
Posted July 31, 2026
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program
Ames Research Center
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has created 18 new awards to support visionary ideas to improve aerospace technologies in areas ranging from the exploration of the solar system to understanding the universe. The 18 NIAC Phase I awards total $3.2 million.
Posted July 30, 2026
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Ames Research Center
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Small Spacecraft Technology Program
Space Technology Mission Directorate
Technology
NASA is working with industry to advance the next phase of cislunar infrastructure for the agency’s Artemis program and Moon Base, including orbital assets and demonstrations.
Posted July 24, 2026
NIAC Studies
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Phase I Saptarshi BandyopadhyayDimming the Sun (DimSun) Using Controllable Dust Cloud to Reduce Solar InsolationNASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryPasadena, CA 91109-80012026 Phase I David BugbyCombinatory Architecture offering Neomobility, on-Venus Adaptability, and Survivability (CANVAS)NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryPasadena, CA 91109-80012026 Phase I
Posted July 21, 2026
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program
NIAC Studies
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Michael RubensteinNorthwestern University, Chicago We propose a mission to use ~10,000 actively steerable femtosats to map the ring composition, atmospheric composition and density, and the magnetic field distribution of Saturn.
Posted July 21, 2026
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program
NIAC Studies
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Austin Phoenix Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State A disaggregated lunar infrastructure requires novel thermal management methods to enable future lunar operations.
Posted July 21, 2026
NIAC Studies
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program
Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Pablo Sobron SanchezSETI Institute This proposal explores a new class of reconnaissance spacecraft that map minerals from orbit using Raman spectroscopy during high-speed flybys–without landing, sample return, or extended dwell.
Posted July 21, 2026
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