Lunar Lander Challenge

Competition funded by NASA's Centennial Challenges program

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NG LLC) was a competition funded by NASA's Centennial Challenges program. The competition offered a series of prizes for teams that launch a vertical takeoff/vertical landing (VTVL) rocket that achieved the total delta v needed for a vehicle to move between the surface of the Moon and its orbit. The multi level competition was conducted by the X PRIZE Foundation, with sponsorship from the Northrop Grumman Corporation who ran the ongoing competition. The prize purses were paid by NASA. It was held annually at the X PRIZE Cup, making its debut at the 2006 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup in October, 2006, until 2009 when the prize purse was awarded to Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace.

The competition is divided into two levels. Both levels require teams to demonstrate control of their vehicle by flying to an altitude of more than , flying laterally for , and landing on a pad. For level 1, this pad is a simple diameter circle; for level 2, it is a simulated lunar surface, complete with craters and boulders. After completing this first flight, the vehicle can then be refueled, and must then fly a second leg back to the original starting point. Each flight must meet a required minimum flight time of 90 seconds for level 1 and 180 seconds for level 2. For each level, the two flights along with any necessary preparation must be accomplished within a short 150 minute time period. Each Level offered a first and second place prize. Level 1 awarded a first place prize purse of $350,000 and a $150,000 purse for second place. The more difficult level 2 awarded first place prize of $1 million and a $500,000 second place prize.

2006 was the first year of the competition. It was announced on May 5, 2006, giving teams only a few months to prepare for the late October competition. Although four teams officially registered for the competition, only one was able to receive the required permit from the FAA before the event. Armadillo Aerospace arrived at the 2006 event, held at Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico, with two matching vehicles, named Pixel and Texel. In the end, Armadillo made three attempts to win the prize, each one using Pixel. In all three cases, difficult landings left them short of the mission requirements—on two occasions, rough landings caused damage to the vehicle; on a third, the vehicle failed to land completely on the target pad. Team Armadillo left without any prize money, but still had made history by performing the first successful flight of a private vehicle of this class—as well as the first flight under the FAA's new Experimental Permit.

The 2007 Lunar Lander Challenge took place on October 27–28 at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Micro Space, one of the teams registered in 2007, had to retreat from the competition after they missed a mandatory meeting. The only team to compete was again Armadillo Aerospace. Armadillo entered their MOD vehicle for level 1. They attempted six flights, but never completed the full profile. A flight on October 27 ended with the vehicle crashing on the return flight. Their final flight attempt on October 28 caused a fire on the launch pad. Team leader John Carmack expressed his disappointment, saying "today is officially a bad day when it comes to our vehicle."