Pick a NASA Patent, Then Make It Useful on Earth

NASA has opened registration for the second season of ORBIT, its student challenge, which the agency says is expanded with up to $500,000 in total prize funding. Student teams can sign up through Monday, Nov. 16, 2026.

The Earth track turns the usual space pitch around. Teams must select a NASA-owned patent and develop novel commercial or nonprofit applications that address critical terrestrial problems — agency research aimed back down at the ground rather than out at orbit.