A student-led engineering team from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Mānoa is among the finalists in a national NASA competition focused on advancing technologies for future space exploration.
Team RoSE (Robotic Space Exploration) is one of 14 university teams selected for the 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts–Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition which will take place at the RASC-AL Forum from June 1-4 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
The challenge invites students to develop innovative concepts supporting sustained human activity on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Project graphics that show the overview of Project PETAL. (Graphic courtesy of University of Hawaiʻi)
The team’s proposal, Project PETAL (Power Energy Transfer Architecture for the Lunar), centers on building a scalable power management and distribution system for lunar operations. The concept integrates multiple energy sources and storage methods, including nuclear power and energy stored using lunar soil, to support long-term missions and lays the groundwork for future applications on Mars.
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As a finalist, Project PETAL received a $7,000 award to support its participation in the RASC-AL Forum, where students will present their work to NASA engineers and industry professionals while refining their concepts through technical feedback. The top-performing teams will be recognized for technical merit, innovation, and presentation excellence.
“Being part of this project has shown us what it takes to develop a concept that could be considered for future lunar and Mars missions,” said Nathan Chong, project manager of Project PETAL and a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa computer engineering freshman. “It’s been rewarding to collaborate across campuses and push ourselves to think at a higher level.”
The project also aligns with broader University of Hawaiʻi efforts supporting NASA’s Artemis missions, including a lunar rover instrument being developed at Mānoa, which is slated to fly as part of the future Artemis 5 mission.
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The interdisciplinary effort emphasizes hands-on design, systems integration, and real-world problem-solving, creating opportunities to connect student-led projects such as PETAL with real-world systems headed to the Moon.
Project PETAL members are primarily from engineering and related STEM disciplines at Hilo and Mānoa. Branden Allen from Hilo, along with Matthew Siegler and Marvin Young from Mānoa, are supporting the project as faculty advisors.
Project PETAL is part of the University of Hawaiʻi’s Space Science and Engineering Initiative, which aims to expand space technology development and hands-on student training. Launched in 2024, the initiative provides students with opportunities to work on advanced space systems while building Hawaiʻi’s capacity in aerospace engineering and instrumentation.
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Team RoSE is one of more than 20 Vertically Integrated Projects at the University of Hawaiʻi, which seek to foster long-term, in-depth, project-based learning to engage students and better prepare them for future careers.