THE 2024 BIG IDEA CHALLENGE
INFLATABLE SYSTEMS FOR LUNAR OPERATIONS
The 2024 BIG Idea Challenge provides undergraduate and graduate students up to $150,000 to design, develop, and demonstrate novel uses of low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) inflatable technologies, structures, and systems* for lunar operations. This year’s challenge invites teams to go beyond lunar habitats, and instead explore innovative concepts incorporating inflatable components, such as: deployable towers, soft robotics, actuators and deployment mechanisms, large antennas and solar reflectors, emergency shelters for extended EVAs, low mass cranes and gantries for offloading and transporting equipment, pressurized tunnels and airlocks, deployable debris shields and dust protection systems, inflatable mandrels for construction, gas or liquid storage tanks and internal or external secondary structures.
The original NOI Deadline was October 22, 2023 and has been changed to a rolling deadline until February 1, 2024.