The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory’s Orbital Edge Accelerator Rules and Participant Agreement (“Agreement”) apply specifically to the Orbital Edge Accelerator (“Accelerator”). To participate in this Accelerator, you (“You” or “Participant”) are required to read, understand, and accept the terms of this Agreement.
ORGANIZER AND PARTNERS. The ISS National Lab (“Organizer”) is the administrator for this Accelerator. The ISS National Lab, Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), E2MC Ventures, Stellar Ventures, ContextVC, Draper University, and Draper Associates are the Partners supporting this Accelerator. All Partner companies, individually and or collectively, will be referred to hereafter as “Partners.”
The Organizer reserves the right to add or remove Partners as needed. Any new Partners not listed herein will be party to this Agreement upon inclusion.
(a) This Accelerator is governed solely by this Agreement, available at https://orbitaledgeaccelerator.com/.
(b) By submitting an Entry (“Entry”, “Response”, “Submission”, “Application”) to this Accelerator, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT, WHICH CONSTITUTES A BINDING AGREEMENT between the Participant and the Organizer. Partners are a third-party beneficiary of this Accelerator. By your entry and participation in the Accelerator you agree to be bound by these rules.
It is the Participant’s responsibility to remain informed as to any changes to the Agreement. In the event of any question or matter arising out of any point not expressly provided for in any of the Agreement, the decision of the Organizer shall be final. The Organizer reserves the right to make any number of Awards or no Award at all and the discretion to pause or terminate the Accelerator at any time. In the event of any dispute regarding the Agreement or any matter relating to the Accelerator, the Organizer’s decision shall be final and unchallengeable, and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into, comment issued, or reason given in respect of any decision made by the Organizer. Should there be any conflict between this Agreement, this Agreement takes precedence.
All Entries must be received electronically as indicated on the ISS National Lab’s Orbital Edge Accelerator website, by May 26, 2026, by 8 p.m. ET. It is the responsibility of the Participant to ensure timely submission of an Entry, and late Entries (including those that are late due to technical difficulties) will not be considered. Dates are subject to change.
(a) Participation is subject to all Federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited or restricted by law.
(b) Participants are solely responsible for compliance with applicable laws and regulations relating to participation in this Accelerator including any obligations related to Participant submissions. Participants are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with their employer’s policies regarding participation in this Accelerator. Participants are responsible for all taxes and reporting related to any award received as part of the Accelerator.
(c) In particular, Participants must comply with all applicable U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Participants shall not submit or transmit to the ISS National Lab any information, materials, or technology subject to export control restrictions unless appropriately marked as such.
(d) The Organizer disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between Participants, their employer, and any other party related to this Accelerator on its behalf and that of the Partners.
For all Teams, a single Principal Investigator must be designated for the Entries and any follow-up communications. The Organizer is not responsible for any engagement of or communication with Team members not designated as the primary contact. The Organizer shall not be held responsible for or party to any teaming agreements, verbal, written, or implied, between members of a Team in generation or Entry. All working relationships related to your Team are your own.
Participation is subject to compliance with applicable eligibility restrictions based on citizenship, residency, and organizational status, including restrictions applicable to foreign persons or foreign entities under NASA regulations and ISS National Lab policies. The Organizer reserves the right to request additional information to confirm eligibility and to disqualify or remove any Participant whose participation would require prior governmental approval that has not been obtained or would otherwise pose regulatory or export control concerns.
In particular, Participants are responsible for obtaining export licenses, if required, before utilizing foreign persons in the performance in connection with the Accelerator, including instances where the work is to be performed on-site at a NASA installation or at ISS National Lab site, where the foreign person will have access to export-controlled technical data or software. Regardless, for purposes of or in relation to the work covered under the Submission, Participants may not contract with the People’s Republic of China or any company owned by the People’s Republic of China or with any entity or foreign person in or from a designated country listed on NASA’s Designated Countries List without consultation and approval from NASA Export Control and the Office of International and Interagency Relations.
Employees and family members of the ISS National Lab and any of their respective affiliates and subsidiaries are not eligible to enter this Accelerator.
Submission for this Accelerator starts Tuesday, April 7, 2026. To be eligible to receive a prize award as a result of this Accelerator, a complete and compliant Submission must be submitted electronically as indicated on the Organizer’s Accelerator website by May 26, 2026, by 8 p.m. ET. Late Entries will not be considered. Dates are subject to change.
Entries submitted in any other manner than that described above shall be considered ineligible. The Organizer will not accept any Entries or attachments submitted via email, physical mail, courier, fax, or otherwise, or that are submitted beyond the deadline.
By submitting an Entry, you agree that (a) all required fields are complete and all information in your Entry is correct and accurate; and (b) your registration may be rejected or terminated and all Entries submitted by you may be disqualified if any of the information provided is incomplete, incorrect, or inaccurate (or if the Organizer has reasonable grounds to believe it is). All Participants are solely responsible for their Entry. All registration information is deemed collected in the U.S.
The Organizer is not responsible for: (a) late, lost, stolen, damaged, garbled, incomplete, incorrect, or misdirected Entries or other communications; (b) errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operations or transmission of information, in each case whether arising by way of technical or other failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, communications devices, or transmission lines; or (c) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to, or alteration of Entry materials, loss or otherwise.
The Organizer is not responsible for electronic communications or emails that are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in any email account to receive email messages. The Organizer disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in or accessing or downloading of information in connection with the Accelerator.
Participants are solely responsible for all equipment, expenses, resources, insurance, and/or costs incurred by or on behalf of any Participant while participating in the Accelerator.
You understand that submitting a Proposal neither entitles you to any consideration nor does it guarantee you that the Organizer and/or Partners will enter into a business relationship with you. Partners may be working on the same or a similar Proposal, may already know of such a Proposal from other sources, or may have taken/will take some other action. In other words, disclosing your Proposal to Partners does not create any obligation upon Partners with regard to the use/non-use of your Proposal, unless and until Partners enter into a written contract with you, and then only as expressed in that contract.
BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY FOR THE ACCELERATOR, YOU ACCEPT THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT, AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE ORGANIZER AND THE REVIEW PANEL, AND WARRANT THAT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACCELERATOR. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE RULES, THEN DO NOT ENTER TO THE ACCELERATOR. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU PRINT A COPY OF THIS AGREEMENT FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE.
Participants shall indemnify and hold harmless the Organizer for any claim arising out its duties as required by the Partners and occasioned by a breach of any of the representations in this Section.
By accepting any Accelerator award, each Participant thereby agrees to the use of his/her name, city/state, likeness and/or Accelerator award information, a synopsis of the Entry by the Partners (or the Organizer solely on behalf of the Partners) for promotional purposes in conjunction with this Accelerator in any medium without additional compensation.
Use of Marks: Except as expressly set forth herein, Participants shall not use the names, trademarks, service marks, seals, logos, insignias, trade dress, or any other designation of source or origin subject to legal protection, copyrighted material, or similar IP (“Marks”) of the Organizer or Partners in any way without such party’s prior written permission in each instance, which such party may grant or withhold in its sole and absolute discretion.
By entering this Accelerator, you acknowledge and agree that the Organizer will have access to and use of any personal data provided in connection with your Entry for purposes as described in these Rules.
Additional privacy details for California residents for this Accelerator:
As a California resident, you have the right to (a) know what personal information the Organizer collects about you (including the specific pieces of that information), how it uses that information, to whom it discloses that information, and whether it sells that information to third parties, (b) have the Organizer delete your personal information, (c) opt out of any sale of your personal information, and (d) not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights. The Organizer will not sell your personal information.
You have the right to exercise the rights listed above and in our Privacy Policy free of charge or penalty, but we may limit the number of requests you make or charge reasonable fees as legally permitted.
You may designate an authorized agent to exercise some of your rights; however, to help protect the security of your personal information, the authorized agent must follow the same authentication procedures that are required if you exercise your rights without using an agent. The ISS National Lab will verify requests made through authorized agents to help ensure the safety of your account and to comply with our policies and procedures.
If you request deletion of your submission to the Orbital Edge Accelerator, it will not result in deletion of information that is not associated with your submission.
A breach of any warranty or representation may result in the corresponding Entry being invalidated and/or Participant being disqualified under this Accelerator.
The Organizer is under no obligation to notify Participants of any changes to the Review Panel. The Organizer is under no obligation to disclose any information about any Reviewers.
Entries will be evaluated based on compliance with the Accelerator requirements, Entry criteria, and the information provided on the Accelerator webpage. Evaluation of Entries will occur after the Accelerator Entry Deadline and will be completed in advance of the announcement of any Awardees. All decisions of the Review Panel, including any decisions to name no Awardees, will be final and binding on all matters relating to this Accelerator.
Participants understand that their submission will be reviewed by Partners, and they may be selected to formally pitch to Partners for a chance at cash prizes or other awards. Participants agree that if selected, they will be invited to pitch to Partners at a prescribed date and time per the calendar of events. Failure to accept the invitation or join the pitch at the prescribed time will result in disqualification from consideration for any prizes or opportunities with Partners.
All Awardees will be notified by the email address provided in the Entry. Return of any Award notification as “undeliverable” will result in disqualification. All Awards are subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with this Agreement. The Organizer reserves the right to examine Entries for compliance with this Agreement. Failure of Participants to demonstrate eligibility will result in disqualification. No substitution or transfer of Award is permitted.
All companies deemed otherwise eligible to participate in the Orbital Edge Accelerator program must have or acquire a Unique Entity ID for their company from SAM.gov. The Unique Entity ID is not required at the time of Application but is required and must be provided to the Organizer and/or Partners prior to selection as a member of the Accelerator cohort. Companies that are unable or unwilling to obtain the Unique Entity ID, or that fail to provide it upon request, will be deemed ineligible for participation in the Orbital Edge Accelerator program.
This is a voluntary Accelerator of skill and innovation, and no fee is required to enter or participate. Whether or not your Entry is selected for an Award depends on how your Entry addresses the Accelerator, and how your Entry compares to the other Entries submitted in the Accelerator when evaluated based on the sole judgment of the Review Panel, Partners, Organizer, and Partners. All Awards are final. There is no offer of a royalty, or other financial compensation, implied beyond the awards described above. No costs or expenses of a Participant for any aspect of this Accelerator will be paid by the Organizer. Each Awardee is responsible for any and all tax reporting obligations and any and all tax payments as applicable.
Participants understand and acknowledge that Reviewers, the Organizer, Partners, and all of their respective affiliates and subsidiaries will not provide rankings, scores, or feedback of any kind regarding any response to this Accelerator. All decisions regarding the outcome of this Accelerator are the sole responsibility of the review panel.
CASIS will make reasonable efforts to share such information only with parties who have a legitimate interest in supporting the objectives of the Orbital Edge Accelerator. However, once materials are shared with third parties, the ISS National Lab and/or CASIS are not responsible for enforcing confidentiality, and applicants understand that such third parties may not be bound by confidentiality obligations unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing.
By applying, the applicant affirms that they have the right to disclose the submitted information and grant the permissions outlined above.
You expressly acknowledge that this Accelerator is free and voluntary. By entering this Accelerator, you accept Florida State law as governing law, the specific terms, conditions and policies outlined in this Agreement including the ISS National Lab terms of use and consent to having your Entry data, including all provided personal information, transferred to, processed in, and stored pursuant to the ISS National Lab privacy statement.
