NASA is developing the Stratospheric Projectile Entry Experiment on Dynamics (SPEED), a two-stage stratospheric drop test architecture, to enhance the efficacy and design of future missions. The two-stage vehicle will drop from a high-altitude balloon, with the first stage accelerating the test model to supersonic speeds. The onboard avionics will then release the test model into freestream flow for dynamic Mach scaling. This project aims to create a robust ejection system that can reliably introduce test models into supersonic flow with minimal initial condition disturbance. As current designs are conceptual and untested, NASA is seeking innovative separation mechanism concepts from the public to improve system reliability for the next SPEED flight vehicles.
A total of $7,000 in prizes is available for the challenge, which opened on July 14, 2025, and will close on September 8, 2025. For more information, visit: [Ejection Mechanism Design for the SPEED Test Architecture Challenge](https://grabcad.com/challenges/ejection-mechanism-design-for-the-speed-test-architecture).