Robot Drone League 2025 | 2026 National Championship

RDL National Championship – MOONBASE Challenge
East Tennessee State University | Johnson City, Tennessee
March 27–28, 2026
What:
RDL & RDL Jr. National Championship
Who:
Advancing teams from RDL & RDL Jr. Regional Events nationwide
Where:
East Tennessee State University
Ballad Health Athletic Complex Dome
Johnson City, Tennessee
When:
Friday, March 27, 2026
8:00 AM — Doors Open, Pit Move-In, Safety Inspections
12:00–2:00 PM — Practice Field Open for Measurements & Trial Runs
2:00–7:00 PM — Qualification Matches
7:00 PM — All-Teams Pizza Social (Free with RSVP)
Saturday, March 28, 2026
8:00 AM — Qualification Matches Resume
9:00 AM — Opening Ceremony
4:00 PM — Event Conclusion & Awards Ceremony
Admission is free and open to the public.
 
About the 2025 / 2026 MOONBASE National Challenge
This year’s RDL National Championship brings together top teams from across the country to compete in a high-energy, collaborative STEM engineering challenge inspired by real-world lunar exploration.
 
Teams step into the role of future space engineers tasked with developing safe, innovative solutions to support sustainable lunar operations. As humanity prepares for long-term missions on the Moon, engineering challenges involving radiation hazards, unstable terrain, water-ice extraction, and infrastructure protection become critical.
 
The MOONBASE Challenge centers on solving these problems through advanced robotics, drone technology, and autonomous systems programming.
 
The MOONBASE Field
MOONBASE is played on a 7.3 m x 11.0 m indoor arena featuring:
Simulated lunar regolith and unstable terrain
Water-ice extraction zones
Power and resource stations
A deep lunar cavern containing recoverable ore
Landing zones and the Lunar Gateway interface
Matches feature four teams, competing as Red or Blue alliances, on mirrored field layouts. Strategic planning, engineering design, and alliance coordination are essential to outperforming opponents.
Mission Operations
Teams in this challenge work with insights inspired by modern aerospace and lunar research experts as they design new approaches to planetary exploration and environmental protection.
Drones will perform:
Autonomous lunar mapping
Ice-sample scanning and atmospheric reading
Structural inspection of the MOONBASE and Gateway
Navigation of hazardous or unreachable terrain
Robots will execute:
Safe ore retrieval
Emergency repair operations
Hazard mitigation tasks
Cybersecurity missions within the lunar communication network
Power grid and waterline restoration
Core Educational Focus
A strong emphasis on computer science and autonomous programming is at the heart of RDL. Students will:
Develop advanced algorithms
Integrate sensors and machine-learning logic
Code autonomous routines for both robots and drones
Work collaboratively using engineering design processes
The RDL Competition aligns with national education standards, including:
Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21)
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
ISTE Standards for Students
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
Event Schedule & Logistics
Doors Open: 8:00 AM daily
Opening Ceremony: Saturday at 9:00 AM
Event Conclusion: Saturday at 4:00 PM
Contact Information
Dennis Courtney
CEO, STREAMWORKS / Robot Drone League
📧 dcourtney@streamworkseducation.org
📞 423.579.4083
 
About ETSU
East Tennessee State University is a student-centered institution committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service. ETSU promotes a balanced interdisciplinary education that prepares students for professional success and lifelong learning.
Learn more at etsu.edu.