Introducing RIOT: Regolith Innovation for Off-World Technologies
What happens when you give a team of curious researchers real planetary regolith simulant and a reason to push it to its limits? That's the idea behind RIOT (Regolith Innovation for Off-World Technologies), our new research challenge for teams who want to run hands-on experiments with lunar and Martian soil simulants.
Whether you're testing excavation tools, growing plants in Martian soil, or sintering bricks for a future Moon base, RIOT gives you the materials, the structure, and a stage to share your results.
How it works
RIOT takes your team from idea to final presentation in five steps:
- Register interest. Fill out our interest form to let us know your team is in.
- Submit a proposal. Email us a research proposal outlining the experiment you plan to run.
- Get your package. Once your project is accepted, purchase the RIOT package with your chosen simulant.
- Run your research. Carry out your experiment and keep us updated with regular research reports.
- Present and compete. Deliver a 15-minute final presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions from the judges.
The RIOT package
Accepted teams get everything they need to start testing:
- 3 kg or 5 kg of your selected simulant
- RIOT Challenge stickers
- An optional team T-shirt package
Choose your world
Pick the regolith that matches the environment you want to study:
- RIOT Highlands (Moon). Represents the terrain of the lunar highlands. Ideal for testing excavation, construction, oxygen extraction, and dust mitigation technologies.
- RIOT Mare (Moon). Replicates the basaltic plains of the Moon. Supports research in metal and oxygen extraction, sintering and additive manufacturing, and rover mobility.
- RIOT Martian (Mars). Matches the composition of Martian soil, enabling studies in plant growth, water and resource extraction, construction materials, and rover and instrument testing.
Eight awards, four categories
Every winner takes home a sintered regolith trophy and a feature on our social channels.
Technical excellence
- Best Experimental Design: the most rigorous, well-controlled, and reproducible setup.
- Best Use of Simulant: the most creative or insightful use of regolith simulant in an experiment.
- Most Unexpected Discovery: a surprising result the team investigated well, even if it didn't support their hypothesis.
Communication
- Best Final Presentation: the clearest and most engaging talk.
Team and community
- Best Interdisciplinary Team: a team that combined different fields, such as engineering and biology.
- Outstanding Advisor Award: a mentor who supported their team especially well.
- People's Choice Award: the project voted favorite by the public on our social channels.
Judges' discretion
- Judges' Choice / Honorable Mentions: room for the judges to recognize strong projects that didn't win another award.
Build the next generation of off-world research
Ready to put regolith to the test? Register your team's interest on the RIOT Challenge page and start planning your experiment today.