If robotics competitions reveal the engineers of the future
MARS
CHALLENGE
REVEALS THOSE WHO WILL REINVENT IT
Mars 2026 Challenge:
The global call for all Zers: young people thinking off-planet to change the world.
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INTERNATIONAL AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
GESS Education Awards 2025
Dubai
ReImagine Education Awards
Londres
Tech & Learning Awards 2025
Estados Unidos
Reto Marte published in reliable media
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Participating countries
No Planet B. Just Better Plan.
Mars Challenge is the world’s first planetary dual-innovation platform
BECAUSE TO THINK OF TUESDAY IS TO LEARN HOW TO SAVE THE EARTH.
No Planet B. Just Better Plan.
Mars Challenge is the world’s first planetary dual-innovation platform
BECAUSE TO THINK OF TUESDAY IS TO LEARN HOW TO SAVE THE EARTH.
MARS
CHALLENGE
Individually
With your school, university or collective
From your city, community or territory
Even if your country is not yet activated,
you can join virtually!
You don’t need previous experience. Just the desire to imagine a different future and be part of those who build it.
Participating in the Mars Challenge is the first step to becoming a Zer: a young person who thinks outside the box, designs real solutions and is part of a transformative global community.
Zers are young people like you: creative, curious, courageous.They don’t conform to the rules of the past, they look for new ways of doing things.
The name comes from “zero”: The starting point. The place where everything begins. The change. The rebirth.
Being a Zer is:
🔻 Imagine what it would be like to start over… even on another planet.
🔻 Use what you know – whatever it is – to create a better future.
🔻 To understand that going to Mars is not to escape, it is to take better and better care of our own world.
🔻 Be part of a global community that thinks differently and acts with purpose.
You can be one of them.
What if preparing for Mars would help us save the Earth?
Mars Challenge was born with a powerful conviction:
Space exploration is not just a dream… it is a new way to teach new generations to solve the great challenges of our time.
Everything we need to live on Mars… is exactly what we need to heal the Earth.
- Water.
- Energy.
- Air.
- Mental well-being.
- Sustainable living.
A global educational hackathon
Through an international experience, Mars Challenge invites Zers to develop real solutions using science, creativity and collaboration.
Because educating is no longer just teaching. It is to activate. To inspire. To empower.
Why Mars? Why now?
Because imagining life on another planet forces us to rethink how we live on this one.
Because young people are not just the future – theyare ready to lead now.
Because education must go beyond the classroom – itmust feel like a mission.
Since 2023, Mars Challenge has connected thousands of students in Latin America, Europe and Africa.
Each year, the finalists come together in an international grand final – from Ecuador to Spain – to present solutions to critical problems such as:
- Water purification
- Power generation
- Habitat design
- Soil and ecosystem restoration
Now we want to open this mission to the world.With your support, any young person, anywhere, can join the mission to Mars… and bring solutions back to Earth.
An open innovation platform for the common good
Mars Challenge is much more than a competition.
It is a global platform where students, educators, institutions and organizations work together to imagine, prototype and share solutions with impact on two planets.
🔻 An incubator for ideas with real potential
🔻 A bridge between education, industry and sustainability.
🔻 A collective futures laboratory led by the Zers.
All of this with a clear objective: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Here, it is not only the best projects that win. The planet wins.
The mission
This is not just a challenge.It’s your chance to imagine the impossible, to create something that doesn’t yet exist, to dare to change the rules of the game.
In Mars Challenge, you are not a spectator.You are the protagonist.
You will work with young people from different areas and cultures, connect with ideas from industry, academia and government, and think about how to live on Mars to find solutions that will improve life here on Earth.
Here you will develop skills for the future:
- Solving real problems from your community
- Using technology ethically, purposefully and creatively
- Strengthen your critical thinking, leadership and empathy.
- Collaborate with people who, like you, want to make a difference
It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you studied.If you are ready to imagine, create and transform, you are already part of it.
This is your moment.
The world needs what only you can imagine.
TEACHERS AND MENTORS
No transformation occurs without courageous educators.
In Mars Challenge, students imagine the future.
But it is the teachers and mentors who activate it.
Educators can get involved
for free
as part of the change.
Whether as a Mission One Teacher or Mission Mentor, they can access training, tools and international recognition.
Two ways to join as an educator
Mission One Teacher
A recognition open to any teacher in the world who believes in the power of awakening vocations, activating talents and opening doors to new horizons.Free certificate, access to exclusive content and international visibility.
Mission Mentor
Educators who are part of institutions officially linked to Mars Challenge and who directly accompany the participating teams.
They have access to training sessions, pedagogical tools and are part of the program’s active network of global mentors.
Students build the future.
But it is the teachers who launch them into it.
VOICES OF THE MISSION
Carolina Londoño Peláez
“The experience from wherever you look at it; from the subject matter, working on Mars, working hand in hand with NASA, and the personal experience is a winner all around.”
Alejandro Gavarrete
“Being able to participate in Reto Marte taught me a lot, both professionally and to improve my skills. It allowed me to make very enriching connections. My message would be to tell them to participate.”
María Alejandra Gaviria
“It was an opportunity to challenge myself and explore my limits. You develop so many skills, including soft skills because you work with new people in interdisciplinary teams. I improved soft skills such as …
Nayeli Abreu
“Participating in Mars Challenge 2024 more than a competition was an experience that taught me and changed my way of seeing the world. Reto Marte not only gives you academic tools, it transforms you completely, teaching you that limits are…
Sofia Mena
“Get into the competition, you won’t regret it; not only for the trip but for the knowledge you gain, the contacts you make on the ground and the people you end up working with to carry out your projects.”
Coordinates of change
An expanding global community
by 2030
global alliance
Mars Challenge is proud to be aligned with global standards and agendas that reinforce its transformative mission:
Compatible with ISO 56001 (Innovation Management)
Compatible with ISO 26000 (Social Responsibility)
Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030)
In line with UNESCO's Futures of Education & Open Science
In sync with the OECD
Learning Compass 2030
Grounded in principles
of Open Innovation 2.0
Inspired by the UN
Youth Strategy
Mars Challenge is aligned with the UN SDGs and promotes:
Quality education (SDG 4)
Climate action (SDG 13)
Gender equality (SDG 5)
Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11)
Innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9) ...among others.
It’s not just the best projects that win here. The planet wins.
GLOBAL INNOVATION PLATFORM
Mars Challenge is a global platform for open innovation for the common good.
A space where students, educators, cities and organizations collaborate to imagine, prototype and share solutions with impact on two planets and multiple social dimensions.
- An incubator of ideas with real potential to transform communities.
- A bridge between education, industry, sustainability and global awareness.
- A collective laboratory of futures, led by the Zers, with purpose and action.
Because here we do not only compete to win a challenge…
We work for the great challenges of our time.
COLLABORATING ENTITIES
