National Competitions and Programs

NASA Sponsored Competition Announcement of Opportunity

Awards: Up to $3,000* per project
* Based on availability of funds.

Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium financially supports student participation in NASA-sponsored, non-WSGC Space Grant-administered, and Industry-led programs. Student teams must apply to the specific national competition or program before submitting an application for funding to the WSGC National Competitions and Programs program.

Competitions include, but are not limited to:

INDUSTRY-LED PROGRAMS: International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) (hosted by Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA), etc.

NASA ARTEMIS STUDENT CHALLENGES: Student Launch, Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC), NASA App Development Challenge (ADC), Lunabotics, Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-G NExT), Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS), and Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone (GLEE).

NASA-SPONSORED PROGRAMS: Big Idea, RASC-AL, RockSat, Space Apps, etc.

NATIONAL SPACE GRANT FOUNDATION PROGRAMS: X-Hab, etc.

SPACE GRANT ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS: Great Midwest Rocket Launch Competition (MnSGC), High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) (LaSGC), etc.

This funding opportunity is made available for the pursuit of space-related research and/or activities through the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program: NASA Educational Cooperative Agreement #80NSSC25M7122. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number for this award is 43.008.

All awards are fully competitive awards of opportunity in which applications are reviewed by the WSGC Technical Advisory Panel and other experts as needed. Awards are made by the Assistant Director based on recommendations from the Associate Director.

Faculty advisor must:

1. Create a NASA STEM Gateway account: stemgateway.nasa.gov/public/s/login/
2. Create a WSGC account: spacegrant.carthage.edu/about/login/
3. Log in and complete the National Competitions and Programs application.

Team lead/Team members must:

1. Create a NASA STEM Gateway account: stemgateway.nasa.gov/public/s/login/
2. Create a WSGC account: spacegrant.carthage.edu/about/login/
3. Log in and complete the Student Participation in Internship, Faculty, and Outreach Program application.

Applicants must:
• Participate as a team with a designated faculty advisor.
• Apply to an eligible NASA-sponsored, non-WSGC Space Grant-administered, or Industry-led competition/program.
• Submit only one application per competition per academic institution.
• Cost-share is optional (no minimum match required)

Team members must:
• Be a Wisconsin resident during the academic year.
• Be enrolled full-time at a WSGC Academic Affiliate institution.
• Be an undergraduate student (Graduate students may serve as a team lead/mentor only).

• Two-page statement explaining:
  • Reasons for seeking funding
  • Description of the competition/program project
• Budget/Use of Funds (WSGC Budget Template), including:
  • Federal Funds
  • Travel (location, transportation, lodging, meals)
    • Travel to and from the Wisconsin Space Conference may be supported if included in the budget.
  • Participant support costs
  • Materials and supplies
  • Other direct costs
  • Cost-Share (optional)
    • Labor (people, hours, rates)
    • Indirect
    • Overhead
• Timeline (performance period shall include presentation at Wisconsin Space Conference in August)

Advisors must:
• Submit award acceptance materials (Award Agreement, biography, photo)
• Be accepted into an eligible national, regional, or NASA-sponsored competition/program.
• Provide quarterly invoices/cost-share documentation.

Team Members must:
• Submit award closeout materials (summary report, student story, project photos/video, proceedings paper, and awardee publications, presentations, patents, and technology transfers report).
• Complete NASA reporting requirements (STEM Gateway activity acceptance).
• Present at the Annual Wisconsin Space Conference (Aug. 2026 for Spring/Summer awards; Aug. 2027 for Fall awards).

If you have questions about the National Competitions and Programs program, please contact: