C-UASC COMPETITION 2026

Held at Mojave Air & Space Port and organized by Cal State LA

Participating institutions: San Diego State, Cornell, IIT-Bombay, Cal State LA, CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly SLO

Competition Sponsors: Northrop Grumman, Scaled Composites, Terra-Gen, Mojave Air & Space Port

Northrop Grumman logo in dark blue text on a white background.
Scaled Composites logo in black and red with stylized swoosh elements.
Logo for Terra-GEN featuring green mountains, a yellow sun, and a winding road with the name 'TERRA-GEN' below.
Mojave Air and Space Port logo with blue text and an orange arrow pointing upward in the letter A

2026 - PolyUAS placed in the top 5 of 32 teams.

Our aircraft successfully dropped the heaviest payload most accurately.

Osiris is an autonomous heavy-lift quadcopter designed to complete selected C-UASC mission objectives through reliable waypoint navigation, target identification, target localization, and package handling. The aircraft was designed around payload capacity, modular integration, field serviceability, and repeatable autonomous operation.

2025 - PolyUAS placed third in the mission demonstration and design competition.

Shadowfax is a 25-pound autonomous quadcopter designed for package delivery. The custom frame and package delivery mechanism were designed and built by our engineering team. Designed for the 2025 C-UASC Competition, the aircraft demonstrated reliable autonomous performance and real-world mission capability running Ardupilot.

The complete design review document is available below.

Group of young men gathered around a drone and electronic equipment at an indoor event.
Close-up of a drone’s carbon fiber arm with a mounted brushless motor, with a person working on it in the background.
A man holding a drone in an airport tarmac area with a white van, helicopters, and parked cars in the background
Group of people standing near a gray military helicopter on tarmac with airplanes and wind turbines in the background under a clear blue sky.
Group of four people on an airport runway, with one holding a remote control drone, discussing documents, and a laptop. A drone is on the ground near them, and an airport vehicle with 'OPERATIONS' written on the side is parked nearby. In the backgrou
A person pointing at a computer monitor displaying colorful graphs and data tables, in a technical or laboratory setting, with other people and equipment in the background.