NASA Announces 2026 NIAC Award Winners for Innovative Mission Concepts

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2026 NIAC awardees for possible future missions.

NASA/Left to Right: Keunhan Park, Michael Rubenstein, Austin Phoenix, Benjamin Schafer, A.C. Charania, Gilly Elor, Pablo Sobron, Marco Quadrelli, Daniel Drew, Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, Jeff Nosanov, Anish Damodaran

Phase I

Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay

Dimming the Sun (DimSun) Using Controllable Dust Cloud to Reduce Solar Insolation

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA 91109-8001

2026 Phase I

David Bugby

Combinatory Architecture offering Neomobility, on-Venus Adaptability, and Survivability (CANVAS)

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA 91109-8001

2026 Phase I

Anish Damodaran

PS21: Transforming Submillimeter Space Interferometry with Photonic Technologies

University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL 32826-2933

2026 Phase I

Artur Davoyan

Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions

University of California

Los Angeles, CA 90024-0001

2026 Phase I

A.C. Charania

EARENDIL: Extended Astronaut Radioisotope-EVA in Nighttime and Deep-space Icy Landscapes

Zeno Power Systems, Inc.

Washington, DC 20001-3701

2026 Phase I

Daniel Drew

Solid-state Propulsion for Autonomous Reconnaissance of Karst (SPARK)

University of Hawaii

Honolulu, HI 96822-2303

2026 Phase I

Gilly Elor

Power-over-Fiber to Enable a Lunar Underground eXplorer (LUX)

Stone Aerospace, Inc.

Del Valle, TX 78617-3017

2026 Phase I

Zhaoyan Liu

Quantum Wind Lidar Applications for Planetary and Earth Science Missions

NASA Ames Research Center

Moffett Field, CA 94034-0001

2026 Phase I

Jeff Nosanov

OBLIVIAN: Observing Black hole LIght Via Intensity cOrrelatioN

Orbital Velocity, LLC

Decatur, GA 30033-4151

2026 Phase I

Keunhan Park

Plasmon-Enhanced Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic (PRTPV) Power Generation for Interstellar Missions

University of Utah

Salt Lake City 84112-1109

2026 Phase I

Austin Phoenix

ECLIPSE – Efficient variable Conductivity Lunar Insulator for Passive Surveyor Environmental Control

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State

University, Blacksburg, VA 24060-5605

2026 Phase I

Marco Quadrelli

PRAXIS: Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA 91109-8001

2026 Phase I

Michael Rubenstein

Actively Steerable Femtosat Constellations for In-situ Exploration of Saturn’s Rings, Atmosphere, and Magnetosphere

Northwestern University

Chicago Evanston, IL 60208-0001

2026 Phase I

Benjamin Schafer

Photophoretic Tracers for Near-Space Remote Sensing at 30-100 km Altitudes

University of California

Los Angeles, CA 90024-0001

2026 Phase I

David Smith

Robotically Assembled Electromagnetic Metamaterials for Long-Range Space Situational Awareness

Duke University

Durham, NC 27708-9976

2026 Phase I

Pablo Sobron

Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys

SETI Institute

Mountain View, CA 94043-5203

2026 Phase I

Paul Stankus

Mapping Alien Continents: Achieving Optical VLBI for Exoplanet Imaging

Brookhaven Science Associates

Upton NY 11973-0001

2026 Phase I

Paul Stankus

Precision Astrometry Using Optically Independent Spacecraft for Graviational Wave Detection

Brookhaven Science Associates

Upton, NY 11973-0001

2026 Phase I

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Last Updated

Jul 21, 2026

Editor

Loura Hall

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NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

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