NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2025: Launch a Space Experiment

Have you ever dreamed of sending your science experiment to the edge of space? The NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2025 is a nationwide online STEM competition that makes this dream a reality. In this contest (open to U.S. teams of middle and high school students), you team up with classmates and an educator to design, build, and propose experiments for flight. As NASA notes, TechRise “invites students to design, build, and launch experiments on suborbital rockets and high-altitude balloons”. It’s like a practical internship program – you’ll gain real-world work experience with aerospace research and engineering processes.

Winners get hands-on STEM training, mentorship from experts, and even a guaranteed spot to see their experiment fly on a real high-altitude balloon or a suborbital spacecraft in 2026. TechRise “seeks to equip America’s future workforce with the skills needed to advance the U.S. aerospace economy”, giving you an unforgettable launch pad for your passion and your resume.

Internship Overview

The NASA TechRise Student Challenge is hosted by NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in partnership with the nonprofit Future Engineers. This online STEM training program runs on a roughly year-long timeline. Proposals open in the fall of 2025 – the contest officially kicks off in September 2025 – and teams have until November 3, 2025 (11:59 PM PT) to submit their ideas. NASA will then select 60 winning teams (up to 35 for suborbital spacecraft, 25 for balloon flights) and announce them in January 2026.

The selected teams receive funding and support to build their experiments from January through May 2026, and finally launch their projects in Summer 2026 on either a Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceship or a World View high-altitude balloon. Although the application and development are done virtually, the flight tests themselves take place on high-tech aerospace vehicles above the U.S. – for example, the 2024–2025 TechRise flights were carried out on a balloon launch from Page, Arizona. In short, this virtual challenge gives students a real placement in NASA’s research process: you submit online, but the payoff is a physical experiment reaching into near-space.

The main objective of TechRise is hands-on STEM learning. As NASA explains, this challenge encourages a deeper understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, space exploration, coding, electronics, and the importance of data. Your experiment ideas might explore climate science, space biology, materials engineering – anything suited to the flight conditions. By guiding you through authentic design and testing steps, NASA aims to prepare you with skills like problem-solving, teamwork, and engineering thinking. In short, TechRise is a training ground for future scientists and engineers. Even though this is a competition, the experience itself is akin to an immersive learning internship where you learn by doing.

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About the Host Organization

The TechRise Student Challenge is managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA – the U.S. space agency – has a mission “to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery”. Programs like TechRise are part of NASA’s broader education and outreach efforts to inspire young people and train the next generation of engineers and scientists. Future Engineers, a nonprofit partner, administers the challenge logistics and provides educational support. Together, NASA and Future Engineers have built TechRise as one of NASA’s prize competitions to foster the commercial space industry and give students direct access to professional aerospace research.

NASA’s track record with TechRise shows the program’s impact. In the 2024–2025 challenge, over 530 students from 60 schools across the United States proposed and built experiments. Those student-designed payloads flew for hours in the stratosphere, collecting valuable data. This history underscores that TechRise teams do real NASA-style projects with real outcomes. By participating, your team joins a network of aspiring scientists nationwide and gains visibility with a respected space agency.

Benefits of the Internship

Participating in the NASA TechRise Student Challenge comes with significant benefits for winning teams. Each of the 60 selected teams receives a “prize package” including grant money, equipment, and expert guidance. Key benefits include:

• $1,500 Project Grant: Every winning team gets a $1,500 budget to purchase materials and build their experiment. This funding empowers you to design and construct a real flight-ready payload without personal cost.
• Starter Kit & Flight Box: NASA provides a specially designed flight box and starter hardware kit for your experiment. This kit includes components like sensors and structural materials, helping you transform your idea into a buildable project.
• Guaranteed Flight Test: Your experiment earns an official spot on a NASA-sponsored flight. That means NASA will fly your payload on either a Virgin Galactic suborbital spacecraft or a World View high-altitude balloon. Nothing simulates space research like seeing your project literally rise above 70,000 feet!
• Mentorship & Technical Support: During the build phase, your team will have weekly meetings and guidance from NASA and Future Engineers experts. You’ll learn from engineers and educators, troubleshooting design challenges and gaining STEM skills. This mentorship is like having professional engineers coach your internship project.
• Skill-Building & Experience: Beyond the tangible rewards, TechRise offers invaluable work experience. You’ll practice science communication by writing a proposal, learn electronics and coding to integrate sensors, and hone teamwork and project management. These are exactly the kinds of skills you’d get in a real internship or research program.
• National Recognition & Resume Boost: Being part of a NASA challenge stands out on college applications and resumes. You’ll have a noteworthy accomplishment: “Selected participant in NASA TechRise Challenge.” Plus, you may share your success with peers and teachers, expanding your STEM network.
• Fun and Inspiration: Finally, TechRise is designed to be fun and inspiring. You and your team get to think creatively about science questions, then watch as your hard work takes flight. That sense of achievement – seeing data from your experiment – is a unique reward.

These benefits go far beyond a classroom project. They combine financial support, hands-on training, and real-world engineering placement into a one-of-a-kind educational opportunity.

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Eligibility Criteria

To join NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2025, your team and school must meet these eligibility requirements:

• Grades & School: Students must be enrolled in 6th through 12th grade at a U.S. public, private, or charter school (including U.S. territories). (All team members must attend the same school.) Homeschoolers are not eligible unless they register through a school that meets the program’s requirements.
• Team Composition: A team needs at least four students plus one teacher or other school staff member as the team lead. There is no upper limit on team size; you could include several grade levels if you wish. The team lead (teacher/coach) is responsible for registering and submitting the proposal.
• Registration: Your team lead must sign up on the Future Engineers website and register the team for the 2025 challenge. Teams can register at any time after the contest opens in September 2025.
• U.S. Citizen/Resident: While specific citizenship is not stated, the program is restricted to U.S. schools, so participants should be U.S. students or in U.S. schools (no international teams).
• No Prior Experience Required: You do not need any prior experience with rockets, coding, or experiments to apply. NASA expressly states that “no experience is necessary to participate”. The challenge is designed as a learning experience.
• Educator Support: A teacher or school staff member must be involved as the team lead. This person registers the team, submits proposals, and coordinates with NASA/Future Engineers.
• Insurance/School Approval: The school may need to comply with insurance and safety guidelines (see official rules), especially for building and launching equipment. (These details are covered in the official Challenge Rules.)

In summary, if you’re a 6–12 student at a U.S. school and you can form a team with 3+ classmates and a teacher, you’re eligible. Gather a diverse group with interests in science, engineering, or technology – no specific course is required – and get ready to apply!

Application Process (Step-by-Step)

Applying to the TechRise Student Challenge is straightforward. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Form Your Team: Gather at least four students (grades 6–12) from the same school, and recruit a teacher or school staff member as your team lead. If you have more students, that’s great – larger teams are allowed. Make sure all team members and the teacher are on board with the project idea.
2. Register the Team Lead: Have the educator (teacher/sponsor) sign up and “Teacher Signup” on the TechRise website. This registers your team with NASA/Future Engineers and will be used to submit your proposal later. (It also helps NASA send updates and resources to your team.)
3. Review the Resources: Before you start writing, read all provided materials. Download and study the Proposal Template, Educator Guide, and official Challenge Rules. These documents explain exactly what to include in your proposal and any constraints (for example, experiment size limits). Understanding these guidelines is crucial for a successful submission.
4. Choose Your Flight Vehicle: Decide whether to target the suborbital spaceship or the high-altitude balloon (or both). Review the slide decks and design guidelines for each vehicle (available on the site). A suborbital flight offers ~3 minutes of microgravity beyond Earth, while a balloon flight gives 4–8 hours in the upper atmosphere. Pick the platform(s) that suit your science idea.
5. Brainstorm Experiment Ideas: Now is the creative part. Use the challenge’s brainstorm worksheets and slide decks to generate experiment concepts. Think about questions you want to answer or phenomena to test. Your idea should be original, feasible, and relevant to NASA (e.g., atmospheric science, biology in low gravity, new materials testing, etc.). Don’t worry about building a prototype yet; focus on the idea and basic design.
6. Design the Experiment: Sketch out how your experiment would work. Consider components like sensors, cameras, electronics, and how to fit them into the flight box. You do not need to have prior experience or a built model – just describe how it could be done. The design guidelines will tell you any size or weight limits.
7. Write the Proposal: Using the official Proposal Template, write a clear and convincing description of your experiment. Include your hypothesis (what you expect to find), the scientific importance, and how you will conduct the test during flight. Address any guidelines (see Proposal Example & Template). Make sure each section is well-organized and answers all criteria (educational impact, NASA relevance, etc.).
8. Submit Online: When your proposal is ready, have the educator log in to the Future Engineers dashboard and submit it online on or before November 3, 2025. The submission must be done by the teacher/school employee team lead. Schools and educators can actually submit multiple unique proposals (for different teams), so don’t hesitate to enter more than one idea if you have them.
9. Await Results: After submission, NASA reviews all entries. The winners (60 teams) will be announced on January 20, 2026. If your team is selected, you’ll receive a confirmation and the prize package in late January 2026, then start building the experiment.
10. Build and Launch: From January through May 2026, winning teams will build their experiment, meet with mentors, and test their system. Final payloads must be sent to NASA by May 16, 2026. The experiments will then launch in summer 2026, and you’ll receive flight data back.

Following these steps carefully will ensure your proposal is valid. Early preparation and good organization (meeting regularly with your team) will make the process smoother. Remember, this is a competitive challenge, so clear, creative proposals tend to do well.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for the NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2025 is November 3, 2025 (11:59 PM Pacific Time). All proposals must be submitted through the Future Engineers website before this cutoff. It’s important to plan ahead – late submissions cannot be accepted. Put this date on your calendar and set reminders for your team so you don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Conclusion

The NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2025 is a unique internship-style opportunity for young STEM enthusiasts. It’s your chance to break out of the classroom, gain real engineering experience, and even see your experiment fly on a NASA mission. By applying, you join a community of driven students across the country, learn from experts, and add a standout achievement to your academic profile.

Whether you dream of being an engineer, a scientist, or simply love solving problems, this challenge can take your skills to the next level. Gather your brightest schoolmates, brainstorm wild science ideas, and take a shot at this exciting program. Remember – no experience is needed, just curiosity and teamwork. Good luck to all applicants, and here’s to shooting for the stars!

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