NASA and HHS Launch Medical Supply Resilience Challenge with Up to $2.04M in Prizes

NASA's Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to launch a major prize competition aimed at developing innovative solutions for rapid medical supply production and distribution during public health emergencies and supply chain disruptions. The challenge, officially titled the Digital Stockpile & Manufacturing Response Network Challenge, was launched on June 15, 2026, and seeks forward-thinking conceptual systems designs that leverage advanced technologies and frameworks to enhance resilient medical manufacturing, logistics, and digital coordination capabilities.

The competition is structured in three phases with escalating prize amounts and development opportunities. Phase 1 requires participants to submit an 8-page paper, a 3-minute pitch video, and a blueprint detailing their solution's key capabilities and structure. Submissions are due by August 28, 2026. Up to 8 finalists will each receive $5,000 and be invited to a hybrid pitch event at ASPR headquarters in Washington, DC, where up to 3 winners will be selected to receive $150,000 each and advance to the innovation development phase.

Phase 2 focuses on solution development through two milestone achievements, with $75,000 awarded for each completed milestone—up to $150,000 total in milestone prizes. In Phase 3, up to 3 teams will be invited to participate in a final Live Validation Event to test their solutions under real-world simulations, competing for a combined prize pool reaching $1,100,000. The total prize purse across all phases amounts to $2.04 million, reflecting the federal government's commitment to advancing medical supply resilience infrastructure.

NASA's Tournament Lab, operated through CoECI, provides the crowdsourcing and contract management capabilities to execute the challenge on behalf of federal agencies. This partnership demonstrates how NASA's innovation infrastructure can support critical national health security objectives beyond space exploration.