Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Welcome to the live feed of the DARPA Lift Challenge. Watch as engineers, researchers, and innovators from across the country test groundbreaking drone designs in real time.
From Aug. 3-9, teams will attempt to advance vertical-lift technology by flying uncrewed aircraft capable of carrying payloads up to four times their own weight over a five nautical-mile circuit course.
A green "Run" indicator in the upper right of the screen indicates an active scored run attempt.
Commentary and analysis will begin on August 6.
A separate broadcast featuring a video grid of all competition lanes simultaneously is available here: youtube.com/live/QNCxlok9QvY
For the complete competition schedule and live event details, visit darpaliftchallenge.com. Discover more about the background of the competition and the future of heavy-lift aviation at darpa.mil/lift.
Welcome to the live feed of the DARPA Lift Challenge. Watch as engineers, researchers, and innovators from across the country test groundbreaking drone designs in real time.
From Aug. 3-9, teams will attempt to advance vertical-lift technology by flying uncrewed aircraft capable of carrying payloads up to four times their own weight over a five nautical-mile circuit course.
A green "Run" indicator in the upper right of the screen indicates an active scored run attempt.
Commentary and analysis will begin on August 6.
A separate broadcast featuring a video grid of all competition lanes simultaneously is available here: youtube.com/live/QNCxlok9QvY
For the complete competition schedule and live event details, visit darpaliftchallenge.com. Discover more about the background of the competition and the future of heavy-lift aviation at darpa.mil/lift.








![CRYSTAL: Crystal Substrate Bonding Technologies and Algorithms - Advanced Research Concept
https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/crystal-substrate-bonding
Bonded single crystal thin film multi-functional materials (electro-optic, acousto-electric, acousto-optic, magneto-optic or multi-ferroic materials) are vital for diverse sensing and communications technologies (integrated quantum, photonic, terahertz [THz], radio frequency [RF], and actuator platforms).
Wafer bonding onto compatible substrates is the critical step for integrating single crystal thin films into multi-functional devices and systems. There is currently no method to analytically investigate wafer bonding processes.
The ability to predictively model wafer bonding of thin film crystals would rapidly accelerate the research and development of multi-functional materials, and their fabrication and scalable integration in diverse applications.
This ARC Opportunity is soliciting ideas to explore the following question: To accelerate development and integration of multi-functional materials, how do we create generalizable models to explore thin film crystal bonding onto suitable substrates under diverse real-world process conditions and parameters? CRYSTAL: Crystal Substrate Bonding Technologies and Algorithms - Advanced Research Concept](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e_rHSXYV_u0/mqdefault.jpg)

