Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge

About the challenge

Completed • 2022-2024

The Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge was a NASA TechLeap Prize challenge to advance precision landing capabilities that deliver spacecraft to safe landing locations in close proximity to targeted exploration sites. NASA’s Flight Opportunities program invited innovators to submit applications for sensing systems that could detect hazards from an altitude of 250 meters or higher and process the data in real time to generate a terrain map suitable for facilitating safe landing of a spacecraft in the dark.

Related news:

Meet the winners

Pomona, California

The Bronco Space Club At Cal Poly Pomona

MoonFALL

MoonFALL leverages a light projector to project a grid of reflective points visible to a camera, creating an initial geometry map. The system then uses light detection and ranging (lidar) along with advances in computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and computing to generate a map that reconstructs lunar terrain.

Visit the Cal Poly Pomona website
El Segundo, California

Falcon ExoDynamics, Inc.

Low SWAP-C Nighttime Landing Hazard Detection System (LITTLE OWL)

The Falcon ExoDynamics LITTLE OWL (Low SWAP-C Nighttime Landing Hazard Detection System) integrated sensing system is comprised of a high-resolution visible spectrum camera, high-lumen LED floodlight, small gimbal, and GPU-based processor to perform sensing of terrain in the dark from an altitude of 400 meters and higher to help identify hazards and safe landing sites for spacecraft.

Visit the Falcon ExoDynamics, Inc. website
Tampa, Florida

University of South Florida - Institute of Applied Engineering

A-LiST (Automated LiDAR Scanning Topography)

The Institute of Applied Engineering’s solution consists of multiple COTS LiDAR sensors that are configured to collect data simultaneously. By utilizing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, the solution will synthesize the data from the LiDAR to form a complete topographical map of the search area in the form of a Delaunay triangulated surface model.

Visit the University of South Florida – Institute of Applied Engineering website

About NASA's Flight Opportunities program

NASA’s Flight Opportunities program rapidly demonstrates promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital and hosted orbital testing with industry flight providers. The program matures capabilities needed for NASA missions and commercial applications while strategically investing in the growth of the U.S. commercial spaceflight industry.

Visit NASA’s Flight Opportunities program website