月球车挑战赛的目的是刺激技术发展以期有朝一日能够实现从月球轨道到月球表面往返的人员和货物的商业运输。The purpose of the lunar lander challenge is to accelerate technology development leading to a commercial vehicle that could one day be capable of ferrying cargo or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the moon's surface.

为了赢得奖金，参赛队伍必须证明火箭驱动的运输工具及其载荷必须垂直起飞，爬上一定高度，飞行一定时间，并笔直的降落在离出发场地一定距离的目标上。降落后，运输工具必须在指定时间内重新起飞，飞行一段时间并回到出发地。比赛难度分为两级，设置不同的奖金。
To win the prize, teams must demonstrate a rocket-propelled vehicle and payload that takes off vertically, climbs to a defined altitude, flies for a pre-determined amount of time, and then land vertically on a target that is a fixed distance from the launch pad. After landing, the vehicle must take off again within a predetermined time, fly for a certain amount of time and then land back on its original launch pad. There are two levels of difficulty, with awards for first and second place at each level.