NASA's Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition is a university-level competition designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

NASA will directly benefit from the competition by encouraging the development of innovative lunar excavation concepts from universities which may result in clever ideas and solutions which could be applied to an actual lunar excavation device or payload. The challenge is for students to design and build an excavator, called a Lunabot, that can mine and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms of lunar simulant within 10 minutes. The complexities of the challenge include the abrasive characteristics of the BP-1, the weight and size limitations of the Lunabot, and the ability to telerobotically or autonomously control the Lunabot from a remote mission control center. This year the scoring for the mining category will not be based primarily on the amount of material excavated in the allowed time but instead will require teams to consider a number of design and operation factors such as dust tolerance and projection, communications, vehicle mass, energy/power required, and full autonomy.

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi NPP, is a weather satellite operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Originally intended as a pathfinder for the NPOESS programme, which was to have replaced NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and the US Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Suomi was launched in 2011 after the cancellation of NPOESS to serve as a gapfiller between the POES satellites and the Joint Polar Satellite System which will replace them. Its instruments provide climate measurements that continue prior observations by NASA's Earth Observing System.

it was previously known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPP-Bridge.

Space Island Group (SIG) is a commercial organization based in West Covina, CA, USA, that is dedicated to the development of commerce, research, manufacturing and tourism in space.

SIG plan to accomplish this by designing, building and operating commercial space transportation systems and destinations. SIG's flagship project is the Space Island Project. This will be a stand-alone commercial space infrastructure supporting manned business activities in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) 400 to 500 miles above earth. SIG plan to accomplish this through the use of technologies, vehicles and procedures developed by NASA and aerospace companies over the last 25 years.

Esrange Space Center (short form Esrange) is a rocket range and research centre located outside the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden.

It is a base for scientific research with high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding rocket launches, and satellite tracking, among other things. Located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by a vast wilderness, its geographic location is ideal for many of these purposes. 

It is operated by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC).

The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) develops, launches and operates space systems and perform tests of new aerospace systems.

SSC (Swedish Space Corporation) is a comprehensive space company that has 40 years' experience in helping space organizations, companies and research organizations to get access to space. SSC provides specialized competence in space subsystems, space and satellite operations, rocket and balloon systems including experiment equipment, launch services, aerospace engineering services as well as airborne maritime surveillance systems.

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries ECAPS and NanoSpace, SSC is also engaged in the development of environmentally friendly propulsion systems and micromechanical systems for space applications.

From its facility Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden, SSC launches sounding rockets and high-altitude balloons for research in the areas of microgravity, astrophysics, astronomy and atmospheric studies.

SpaceTech undertakes a wide spectrum of space activities in the field of scientific and Earth observation missions.

The scope of activities covers design and engineering work on mission and satellite system level, the development and production of space equipments such as solar generators, high precision mechanisms, attitude sensors and the launch services support. The company is also active in terrestrial applications and provides project management support to the implementation of Tsunami Warning Systems and delivers land and ocean based sensor stations.

Planetary Systems was founded in 1998 with the goal of providing high-quality, affordable mechanical systems to the aerospace industry.

Notably it provides lightweight, cost-effective, and test verified separation systems for the aerospace industry. Specifically for the Space industry, it provides separation systems for payload separation and vehicle staging.

From its own R&D efforts, Planetary Systems produces the Lightband, a  patented system in the US and abroad.

RUAG Space is a large provider of space technology in Europe. It develops, manufactures and tests subsystems and equipment for satellites and launch vehicles. With divisions located in Switzerland, Sweden and Austria, RUAG Space offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for institutional and commercial space missions. RUAG Space is a long lasting partner for satellite and launcher primes worldwide.

RUAG Space is the Space Division of the Swiss technology group RUAG. With seven sites, located in Switzerland (Zurich, Emmen and Nyon), Sweden (Gothenburg, Linköping) and Austria (Vienna, Berndorf), RUAG Space employs around 1,100 people and posted sales of 283 million Swiss Francs in 2010.

RUAG Space is developing and producing a wide range of products for the space industry. See:

• RUAG Space Switzerland
• RUAG Space Sweden
• RUAG Space Austria

Marotta Controls Inc. designs and manufactures fluid control systems, components and actuators designed specifically for the Aerospace, Military, Space and Industrial markets. Applications include aircraft hydraulic systems, high-pressure pneumatics and smart fluid systems on Navy ships, and reaction control systems on launch vehicles and small satellites.

Marotta produce thrusters and isolation valves; cold gas thrusters; regulators; relief valves; check valves.

Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC)'s core business is space launch. It developed, owns, and operates the Kodiak Launch Complex, a spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, that provides access to space for commercial and government interests.