MIT Manipal to host international rover, space drone challenge from January 28

Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal, will host the International Rover Challenge (IRC) 2026 and the International Space Drone Challenge (ISDC) 2026 from January 28 to February 2, bringing together space robotics student teams from India and abroad.

Organised by the Space Robotics Society (SPROS), the on-site finals will be held at the MIT campus under the aegis of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).

The campus will be transformed into a simulated Martian landscape through a specially designed Mars-analogue terrain named Sproscape. On this terrain, student-built rovers and aerial drones will execute missions that mirror real-world space exploration and astronaut-support operations on Mars, the official MIT press release said.

After a multi-stage international selection process, top student teams from countries including Poland and Germany (TU Berlin) have qualified for the on-site finals. They will compete alongside teams from leading Indian institutions such as IISc, IITs, BITS, VIT, SRM, and MIT.

The event positions Manipal as “a global hub for innovation and collaboration in space robotics,” the official note said.

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Challenging missions, hands-on space robotics training

According to the official MIT press release, IRC and ISDC are demanding engineering competitions that assess students’ ability to design, build and operate advanced space robotics systems. The missions include reconnaissance and delivery operations, where rovers navigate difficult terrain to locate targets and deliver payloads; astrobiology expeditions involving soil sample collection and analysis for possible biosignatures; precision instrument deployment and maintenance tasks on mock panels; and fully autonomous missions in which rovers traverse unstructured terrain without human intervention.

The director of MIT Manipal Anil Rana said that hosting IRC and ISDC, reflects the institute’s focus on hands-on, future-oriented engineering education. “These competitions allow students to apply classroom learning to real-world space challenges while developing teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills.”

MIT Manipal’s student team, Mars Rover Manipal, which won the International Rover Challenge in 2024 and 2025, will defend its title on home ground. The university said the team has “established itself as a leading force in space robotics,” adding that the competitions are aimed at bridging the gap between academic learning and industry expectations by assessing participants on engineering performance, planning, collaboration and decision-making skills.