National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASAfacts

Cube Quest Challenge

Teams Demonstrate Advanced CubeSat Technologies 

at the Moon or Beyond to Win Prize Purse

Objective

Sponsored by NASA’s Centennial Challenges 

program, university and private developer teams 

are competing for prizes by building 6 unit 

CubeSats then demonstrating superior performance in one of two divisions, the Lunar Derby 

– in lunar orbit – or the Deep Space Derby – 2.5 

million miles from Earth. From these two arenas, 

competitors attempt to achieve any or all of the 

contest goals including: highest data communications rate; transmission of the largest volume of 

data within a specified time frame, data transmission from the farthest range beyond 2.5 million 

miles; and/or longest survival in the deep space 

environment. There is also a prize for achieving 

lunar orbit. To ensure data integrity, each satellite 

must transmit NASA-provided communications 

data to be eligible for prizes. NASA believes that 

CubeSats with these kinds of capabilities will 

contribute to new and more affordable missions 

to explore the Moon and beyond.

Prize Purse

The total prize purse for the competition is 

$5 million. An already completed competition 

element offered three launch opportunities on 

NASA’s Artemis I, the first uncrewed lunar flyby 

mission of Orion, launched atop the agency’s 

Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Ground Tournaments During a series of four 

Ground Tournaments (GTs), a $460,000 prize 

purse was awarded for CubeSat designs judged 

as meeting or exceeding benchmarks for excellence. At GT-4, the final Ground Tournament, the 

Centennial Challenges announced the names of 

three top scoring teams, each awarded $20,000 

and a secured launch aboard Artemis I. The 

three Artemis I launch winners are: Cislunar 

Explorers, CU-E3 and Team Miles.

Other qualified teams can procure their own launch 

(prior to completion of the Artemis I mission) in 

order to compete for the in-space prizes.

Cislunar Explorers

Cornell University (Ithaca, New York)

Goals: Achieve Lunar Orbit, Spacecraft Longevity 

Notable Technologies: Cislunar Explorers used 

a Cornell-designed water electrolysis propulsion 

system utilizing a 3D-printed titanium nozzle that 

burns hydrogen and oxygen safely stored as water. 

The 6U CubeSat splits into two 3U units that each 

generate sufficient power for electrolysis of the 

water propellant, and that spins for stability and 

to separate liquid water from the gases. Cornell 

has also developed their own CO2

 cold-gas 

thrusters for attitude control, and a UHF amplifier 

for communications at lunar distances. They use 

off-the-shelf cameras for optical navigation.

Cislunar Explorer 6 unit CubeSat splits into two; each 

uses water for its propellant.
NASA Facts

CU-E3

University of Colorado Boulder 

Goal: Best Burst Data Rate, Highest Data Volume, Farthest 

Communications Distance, Spacecraft Longevity

Notable Technologies: CU-E3 is focused on winning the 

communications distance, data rate and data volume 

prizes by using their novel CU-designed deployable 

reflect-array antenna with a deployable feed horn driven 

by their own X-band transmitter. CU-E3 has partnered 

with Atlas Space Operations, located in Traverse City, 

Michigan, for ground station services.

CU-E3 plans to win using their own X-band transmitter 

that drives their unique deployable reflect-array antenna.

Team Miles

Fluid & Reason (Tampa, Florida) 

Goal: Farthest Communications Distance

Team Miles is team of citizen inventors who came together 

to compete in Cube Quest. Since competing, they have 

began to commercialize their technologies. 

Notable Technologies: Team Miles will use 12 of their own 

ConstantQ plasma thrusters, iodine-fueled electric propulsion, canted to allow 3-axis pointing control as well as 

speed them beyond the 2.5 million mile range. The team 

has radiation tested their custom Resilient Affordable 

CubeSat Processor flight computer and other electronics 

to determine their survival over the duration of the mission, 

expecting to reach 4.8 million miles.

Team Miles propels their CubeSat with 12 iodine-fueled plasma 

thrusters, controlled by custom radiation-tolerant computer.

Other Teams with Other Launches

The Cube Quest rules allow any qualified U.S.-based team 

to obtain their own launch in order to compete with their 

6U CubeSat for prizes in the Lunar Derby or Deep Space 

Derby. Teams have 365 days after their spacecraft is 

deployed to conduct operations that can be entered into 

the in-space challenge.

NASA’s Cube Quest, a NASA Centennial Challenge, is 

managed at Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, 

California. Centennial Challenges, part of the Prizes and 

Challenges program within NASA’s Space Technology 

Mission Directorate, offers incentive prizes to generate revolutionary research and technology solutions to problems 

of interest to NASA and the nation. Centennial Challenges 

is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in 

Huntsville, Alabama.

For more information on the Cube Quest Challenge, visit:

www.nasa.gov/cubequest

For information on the Centennial Challenges program, 

visit: www.nasa.gov/winit

@NASAPrize

/NASACC

NASAPrize

www/nasa.gov/winit

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

Huntsville, AL 35812

www.nasa.gov/marshall

www.nasa.gov

FS-2019-12-073-MSFC

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