Lunar Payload Design Challenge

The U.S. Department of State's U.S. Mission to the UAE announces an open competition to implement the Lunar Payload Design Challenge, a program that brings together U.S. and UAE graduate students in a hands-on, team-based initiative to develop technologies relevant to future lunar missions. The program builds advanced technical and collaborative skills while fostering partnerships between universities, industry, and research institutions. The initiative strengthens U.S.-UAE cooperation in space innovation, highlights U.S. leadership in lunar exploration, and creates pathways for continued collaboration, research advancement, and potential mission integration. This program directly advances U.S. foreign policy priorities under the "Make America More Prosperous" pillar by expanding partnerships in high-growth sectors of the space economy and reinforcing the strength, competitiveness, and collaborative nature of the U.S. innovation ecosystem, and advances Goal 2 of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs: Securing opportunities to advance U.S. commercial and strategic interests.