About the challenge

Spaceflight has long operated under the assumption that when a spacecraft launches it must have everything it needs for its journey. But the “one and done paradigm” is starting to change. NASA’s In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) missions are built on a different premise. By developing systems to service, assemble, and manufacture in orbit, ISAM is expanding what is possible in space. This challenge serves as a building block for capabilities such as swapping out a failed component on an orbiting satellite, assembling a structure too large to be launched on any single rocket, or fabricating new parts in orbit from raw materials.

Enabling in-space infrastructure that can be built, maintained, and upgraded over time will help facilitate a space economy that is resilient and sustainable. Realizing this vision requires persistent, modular, and reconfigurable systems that can be adapted and serviced in space. To get there, it is crucial to develop and prove those systems through missions that test real hardware in orbit.

The quickest and most effective way to advance ISAM technology is to fly hardware and test its capabilities in space. The Fly Foundational Robots (FFR) mission, slated to launch in late 2027, will serve as a destination platform that will demonstrate autonomous robotic manipulation in low Earth orbit using a commercial robotic arm.

To further FFR’s impact, this challenge enables the development of payloads that can be manipulated, reconfigured, or activated in orbit by the FFR robotic platform. FFR and subsequent robotic demonstrations are foundational to the future of ISAM — which is exactly what this challenge is designed to accelerate.

The Robotically Manipulated Payload Challenge — the fifth in the NASA TechLeap Prize series — is a competition to advance persistent infrastructure for in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. NASA’s Flight Opportunities program invites applicants to propose payloads that can be manipulated by a robotic arm in low Earth orbit. NASA intends to fly each of the winning payloads aboard a spacecraft that will deliver the payloads to the orbiting FFR spacecraft. The FFR robotic arm will transfer each payload from the delivery spacecraft, install it onto the FFR platform, and then interact with, manipulate, or reconfigure it. Potential applications for payloads in this challenge could include robotic inspection, structural assembly, sensor deployment, material processing, or modular systems that can be swapped and upgraded — and more.