Graphic representation of DARPA’s Lift Challenge. (Image: DARPA, Alan Clarke)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on June 8 announced invitations to 72 teams to demonstrate innovative drone designs capable of carrying at least four times their weight.
The list of invitees for the Lift Challenge this August includes inventors, startups, aerospace companies and universities. Driftless Robotics, EasyBreezy Heavy Lift, Kansas City Space Pirates, MacGyver, Squishy Tech, Stoner Aero and YGGY Aviation will be competing with Avalon Aero, Avidrone Inc., two Burl Aerospace teams, teams from Penn State Univ., the Univ. of Maryland, Arizona State Univ. and others for $6.5 million in prize money.
Up to 150 teams could ultimately be invited to participate in the Lift Challenge, DARPA said. After the prize challenge was posted in late October 2025, DARPA said it received more than 480 applications, with more than 200 teams having successfully completing key upfront milestones that include a final concept paper and video evidence of progress.
The goal of the prize challenge is to demonstrate drone technologies that can essentially lift far more than they weigh.
“If competitors can demonstrate 4:1 payload-to-weight ratios, the result could ripple across commercial and military missions, which have been constrained by today’s roughly 1:1 or lower payload-to-weight ratios,” DARPA said in a statement.
The Lift Challenge will take place from Aug. 2-9 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where competitors will flight their drones in a 5 nautical mile circuit course. Prize money will go to those with the highest payload-to-weight ratios and novel designs.
A version of this story originally appeared in sister publication Defense Daily.
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