NASA calls to ‘rock and roll’ with new lunar wheel challenge

Houston, Texas – NASA has launched the ‘rock and roll with NASA challenge’, inviting inventors, researchers and companies to design the next generation of wheels for lunar rovers.

In an announcement, the US agency said the $155,000 (€132,000) challenge seeks to create “a lightweight, flexible, long service-life wheel and tire” to help rovers navigate the harsh environment of the moon.

According to NASA, future missions will require wheels that can sprint across razor-sharp regolith, survive freezing nights, and keep rovers moving “day after lunar day.”

The three-phase programme starts with concept proposals and technical analyses between August-October 2025.

Phase 2, running January to April 2026, will support prototype development, while Phase 3, summer 2026, will test the best wheels on a live obstacle course simulating lunar terrain at the Johnson Space Center Rockyard in Houston.

To prove concepts, NASA will use MicroChariot, a 45kg test rover designed to trial selected wheels from Phase 1 and 2 under simulated mission conditions.

“This is about building a lightweight, compliant wheel that can carry heavy payloads and keep rolling at higher speeds,” NASA explained, adding that entrants will receive feedback from its mobility engineers throughout the process.

The competition is open to student teams, independent inventors and aerospace companies.

“Your ideas could set the pace for the missions to come,” NASA said, calling on participants to help “rewrite the playbook of planetary mobility and leave tread marks on the future of exploration.”

The challenge requires wheels of 18-inch diameter, correcting an earlier prelaunch statement of 19 inches.