HHS, NASA Launch Challenge for Medical Supply Chain Resilience
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), has launched a prize competition aimed at strengthening the nation's ability to rapidly produce and distribute critical medical supplies. NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) is assisting in this crowdsourced challenge, which seeks forward-thinking solutions for resilient medical manufacturing, logistics, and digital coordination during public health emergencies. The multi-phase challenge offers a total prize purse of up to $2.04 million.
NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) supports the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government, utilizing its NASA Tournament Lab to facilitate external crowdsourced challenges for NASA and other agencies.
One such initiative is a prize competition sponsored by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This challenge aims to identify innovative solutions that will enhance the nation’s capacity to swiftly produce and distribute essential medical supplies during public health crises and supply chain disruptions.
Participants are tasked with developing a conceptual systems design incorporating technologies and frameworks to advance the future of resilient medical manufacturing, logistics, and digital coordination capabilities. The competition is structured in three phases.
Phase 1 requires participants to submit an 8-page paper, a 3-minute pitch video, and a blueprint outlining their solution's key capabilities. Up to eight finalists will each receive a $5,000 prize and an invitation to a hybrid Pitch Event at ASPR headquarters in Washington, DC. From this event, up to three winners will be awarded $150,000 each and proceed to the innovation development phase.
Phase 2 involves two developmental milestones, with an additional $75,000 prize for each completed milestone, totaling up to $150,000 in milestone payments. In Phase 3, up to three teams may be invited to a final Live Validation Event to test their solutions in real-world simulations, competing for a prize purse of up to $1,100,000.
The total prize money for the competition is up to $2.04 million. The challenge launched on June 15, 2026, with Phase 1 submissions due by August 28, 2026.
According to NASA Breaking News, the challenge seeks to bolster national preparedness.
