The Missouri S&T Mars Rover Design Team has won the 2025 University Rover Challenge, an international design competition where teams showcase potential next-generation Mars rovers.
The team finished first among 38 teams at the University Rover Challenge (URC), held May 28-31 at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah. Countries represented at the competition include Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Türkiye, as well as many teams from the United States.
The competition consisted of four missions in which the rover, designed and built by university students, had to carry out various tasks, as well as a review of the rover’s design. The rover was required to maneuver through soft sand and rocky terrain, around vertical drops and steep slopes, as well as navigate autonomously for certain parts of the challenge.