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DARPA Lift Challenge
The DARPA Lift Challenge aims to shatter the heavy lift bottleneck, seeking novel drone designs that can carry payloads more than four times their weight, which would revolutionize the way we use drones across all sectors.
Program Manager: Phillip "Donna" Smith
Aug. 8
On Day 7, several teams attempted scoring runs to get above a 4:1 ratio. DARPA leadership was onsite to meet the teams, hear their insights, and celebrate their boldness and innovation.
Aug. 7
Day 6 saw a new team on the leaderboard and some existing leaders improve their ratios before a series of afternoon storms ended flights for the day.
Aug. 6
The Challenge opened to the public and the hosted livestream began providing live commentary of flights throughout Day 5.
Aug. 5
Teams began their second flight attempts on Day 4 of the competition. A payload-to-weight record was crushed and a new team claimed the top spot on the leaderboard.
Aug. 4
Teams continued their first attempts for their scored flights at DARPA Lift Challenge, where they are vying for $6.5 million in prizes. DARPA announced leaderboard and "chaser" board for the first time.
Aug. 3
DARPA Lift Challenge Teams prepare and fly their aircraft for safety test flights and official runs.
Aug. 2
The first wave of DARPA Lift Challenge Teams move in ahead of the weeklong competition at the grounds of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
