If you have questions about the Aqualunar Challenge which are not answered in the FAQs or elsewhere on the website, please contact us by emailing aqualunar@challenges.org
Please ensure you have read our Terms and Conditions. See our Applicant Guide for all the information you need to apply.
Challenge prizes offer a reward to whoever can first or most effectively meet a defined challenge. Through a public competition, challenge prizes aim to tap into and engage the broadest possible community of innovators in the solving of a specific problem or challenge. For more visit our What is a Challenge Prize? page.
The Aqualunar Challenge is calling innovators to pioneer technology and innovation that will purify water on the Moon. This will help to:
The Challenge also aims to foster long-lasting collaboration between the United Kingdom and Canada. It is a collaborative challenge prize between the UK Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, which aims to encourage collaboration between innovators, industry experts and other stakeholders in the UK and Canada.
Find out more on The Challenge page.
The Aqualunar Challenge is a project of international collaboration between the United Kingdom and Canada. The Aqualunar Challenge is delivered by Challenge Works on behalf of the UK Space Agency in the UK, as part of UKSA’s International Bilateral Fund, and is delivered by the Canadian Space Agency in partnership with Impact Canada in Canada.
The UK track is for UK-based innovators; the Canadian track is for Canada-based innovators. The two have been designed to have the same objectives, but there are some important differences in the administration and prize rules. In particular, the UK track of the challenge awards grand prize winners at the end of Stage 2, while the Canadian track of the challenge awards its grand prize at the end of Stage 3.
UK teams should always refer to the materials on this website and in the UK Applicant Guide.
Canadian teams should always refer to the materials on the Canadian Aqualunar Challenge website.
The Challenge is made up of two stages. Stage 1 is the application period. Stage 2 is the Finalist stage. See more information on our application guidance page and Application Guidance booklet.
| Applications open | 17 January 2024 |
| Applications close | 8 April 2024 |
| Announcement of finalists | Mid June 2024 |
| Finalist submissions due | Late January 2025 |
| Announcement of winners | Late March 2025 |
| Acceleration support for winners and runners-up | April-May 2025 |
The selection of finalists, runners-up and winner shall be made solely by the Judging Panel in order to maintain the public nature and transparency inherent to a challenge prize, with ratification by the UK Space Agency. The panel will be made up of independent experts and will be announced on our website before applications close. Judges will make their selections by assessing applications against the Judging Criteria.
The Aqualunar Challenge welcomes a wide range of applications. We don’t know what the winning technology will look like. The best applications will perform well against the Judging Criteria and demonstrate strong potential for future adaptation to the unique constraints of space as described in the Mission Scenario.
The Challenge is open to completely new, early stage ideas or existing solutions that are pivoting or adding new elements or functionality. If selected as a finalist, applicants will develop their technologies during the Challenge’s 7.5-month finalist stage. When the Challenge ends in March 2025, we expect technologies to (at a minimum) have begun developing components of a prototype based on their concept design (approximately TRL3).
During the Challenge, in addition to the financial support, finalists will have access to comprehensive capacity development support to help develop their technologies, including technical, commercialisation and business skills support.
The details of this support will be tailored to finalist’s needs once they are selected, but you can expect it to include:
To support innovators to develop their technologies, each of the 10 finalists will receive a £30,000 grant to develop their technology, as well as access to comprehensive in-kind capacity development support through the 7.5-month finalist period.
The first place winner will receive £150,000, the second place runner-up will receive £100,000 and the third place runner-up will receive £50,000 to help further develop and get their technologies to market. They will also receive support in April and May 2025 to help accelerate the development of their solutions.
Info can be found on the Eligibility criteria page to see if you are eligible to enter.
Applicants must be UK-based. If they are not UK-based, they must be partnered with a UK-based organisation. The UK-based organisation must be the lead partner for the application.
Yes, the Aqualunar Challenge is open to completely new, early stage ideas, or existing solutions that are pivoting or adding new elements or functionality. In completing your application, you will need to demonstrate how your idea is innovative.
A few. The stage 2 awards should be spent on developing your technology – we will carry out light-touch monitoring to check this, though we will not force you to stick to your original proposal if you find a better approach during development. The final prize should be spent further developing your technology.
For all questions and queries, please contact the Challenge Works team via email: aqualunar@challenges.org
Submit your application online through Submittable, Challenge Works’ online application management platform. Challenge applications must be submitted by 3pm BST on 8 April 2024.
More information on applying can be found on our How to apply page and in the applicant handbook.
We have designed the application process to be as straightforward as possible. We advise you to start your application before the deadline because we cannot be responsible for technical difficulties after the deadline of 3pm BST on 8 April 2024. If you have any problems with the Submittable online form please do contact us at aqualunar@challenges.org
Applicants will retain their intellectual property.
Applications will be kept confidential. Applicants are required to share information (for example, any information included in their application) with Challenge Works for the purposes of administering the Challenge. Challenge Works may in turn share this information with our partners in this Challenge, subject to appropriate obligations of confidentiality and data protection. More information on how we use your personal data is included in our Privacy Policy. You may share as much or as little information about your application as you wish with fellow innovators and with partners delivering non-financial support, but these individuals will not be under any Non Disclosure Agreement.
