NASA opened the Orbital Clarity Challenge offering up to $500,000 in prizes across three phases to develop low-cost methods for measuring thermospheric density and orbital drag in low Earth orbit.

Key Details

• The Orbital Clarity Challenge is the sixth challenge in the NASA TechLeap Prize series and opened on August 19, 2026
• A collaborative effort between NASA's Heliophysics Division, Flight Opportunities program, and Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation
• Calls for inexpensive and scalable methods of measuring thermospheric density, pressure, or drag to be flown as hosted payloads across commercial fleets
• Up to four winners will advance concepts to flight-ready solutions within 12 months with up to $500,000 in prizes
• NASA intends to offer each winning team a test flight at no cost at the conclusion of the challenge
• Phase 1 registration closes October 28, 2026, and Phase 1 submission closes November 11, 2026

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