This is not an official DARPA website. It is an independent, unaffiliated copy of the Lift Challenge leaderboard, made only to link each record to the moment it happens on video. Not endorsed by or connected with DARPA. The official standings — and the only authoritative ones — are at darpaliftchallenge.com/results.

DARPA
DARPA Lift Challenge Unofficial mirror
Watch live

Leaders

Source darpaliftchallenge.com/results
Board competition day 4 of 7 · Mon Aug 3 – Sun Aug 9
Updated Friday 7 August 2026, 00:28 CEST · 6:28 PM ET
Refresh rechecked against the official board every 20 min while the competition is running

The official board tells you what was lifted, not when — and the broadcasts are seven-hour VODs with no chapters. Same board, same figures, plus one column: the moment each record happens on video. Open a row for the evidence behind it.

RankTeam nameAircraft weightPayload weightRatioCompetition statusOn video
01 Avidrone Inc. 29 lb112 lb3.84:1in aug 6 · 9:10:32
Record on videoThu Aug 6  ·  9:10:32 AM ET  ·  lane1

On screen at that moment — vehicle 29.3 lb  ·  payload 112.4 lb  ·  ratio 3.84:1. Matched on payload + ratio.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

02 Xtreme Aerial Concepts 55 lb167 lb3.04:1in aug 5 · 11:48:12
Record on videoWed Aug 5  ·  11:48:12 AM ET  ·  lane15

On screen at that moment — vehicle 54.9 lb  ·  payload 166.9 lb  ·  ratio 3.04:1. Matched on payload + ratio.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

03 MacGyver 55 lb137 lb2.51:1in aug 4 · 9:16–10:46
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

04 H-Squared 55 lb127 lb2.32:1in aug 5 · 9:23:12
Record on videoWed Aug 5  ·  9:23:12 AM ET  ·  lane3

On screen at that moment — vehicle 54.6 lb  ·  payload 126.9 lb  ·  ratio 2.32:1. Matched on payload + ratio.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Chasers

RankTeam nameAircraft weightPayload weightRatioCompetition statusOn video
01 DefendTex 12 lb112 lb9.63:1in aug 4 · 2:02–3:37
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

02 MTech Operations LLC 32 lb112 lb3.46:1in aug 5 · 11:45:42
Record on videoWed Aug 5  ·  11:45:42 AM ET  ·  lane9

On screen at that moment — vehicle 32.4 lb  ·  payload 111.9 lb  ·  ratio 3.45:1. Matched on payload + ratio.

In the 15-lane grid

03 Capstone AirLift Systems 43 lb112 lb2.62:1in aug 5 · 2:38:17
Record on videoWed Aug 5  ·  2:38:17 PM ET  ·  lane15

On screen at that moment — vehicle 42.9 lb  ·  payload 112.4 lb  ·  ratio 2.62:1. Matched on payload + ratio.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

04 Mimino 46 lb117 lb2.56:1in aug 4 · 9:30–10:46
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

05 Advanced Vertical Flight Laboratory 44 lb112 lb2.55:1in aug 5 · 9:31–10:05
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

  • 550-pound Quiet eVTOL UASMoble Benedict  ·  March 2026  ·  the team's own  ·  not this challengeThe channel of the lab's director at Texas A&M, where roughly thirty of the lab's aircraft are flown. This is the nearest thing to their lift work.
  • Quad Cyclocopter DemoTAMU AVFL  ·  2023  ·  the team's own  ·  not this challengeThe lab's own channel, and its best-known aircraft.
06 Agriculture Technologies 54 lb117 lb2.19:1in aug 4 · 9:16–10:46
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

07 Dronesmith 52 lb112 lb2.16:1in aug 5 · 9:08–9:55
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

08 InSky 52 lb112 lb2.14:1in aug 6 · 9:24–10:34
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

  • InSky — Drones, not toys.InSky Aero  ·  October 2025  ·  the team's own  ·  not this challengeTheir heavy-lift VTOL platform, from the Miami company behind the entry.
  • InSky Bike piloted flight.InSky Aero  ·  2024  ·  the team's own  ·  not this challengeA person flying their eVTOL bike. The only other video they have posted.
09 Advanced Tactical Lift Aircraft System 55 lb112 lb2.06:1in aug 5 · 9:05–10:31
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

No longer on the board

DARPA has removed these 8 teams from the official standings as the field tightened. They are kept here because the video behind their runs still stands — they are not part of the current standings.

RankTeam nameAircraft weightPayload weightRatioCompetition statusOn video
10 APTOS AERO 30 lb2 lb0.06:1delisted aug 4 · 9:28–10:21
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

  • Aptos BlueA2 CAL  ·  2021  ·  the team's own  ·  not this challengeThe air-ambulance eVTOL by the engineer who entered as APTOS AERO. His old studio domain now redirects to the team's.
  • A2CAL — APTOS BLUERoyal Aeronautical Society  ·  2021  ·  a conference talk  ·  not this challengeThe same design presented to the Royal Aeronautical Society.
10 Driftless Robotics 51 lb47 lb0.92:1delisted aug 5 · 2:27–3:33
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

Other televised runs with weights

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

11 Mohyi Labs 33 lb2 lb0.06:1delisted aug 4 · 9:16–10:46
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

  • Mohyi LabsMichigan Creative  ·  2017  ·  somebody else's  ·  not this challengeA profile of the bladeless-impeller idea the team is still building on. The only video anyone has made about them.
12 Ragin' Cajuns Drone Team 44 lb2 lb0.06:1delisted aug 5 · 11:23:57
Closest televised runWed Aug 5  ·  11:23:57 AM ET

On screen — vehicle 44.4 lb  ·  payload 2.4 lb  ·  ratio 0.05:1. That reads 0.05:1, not the 0.06:1 on the board, so this is a neighbouring attempt and not the record itself.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

13 Dmaterial 38 lb2 lb0.05:1delisted aug 4 · 9:16–10:46
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Away from the broadcast

14 CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES 51 lb2 lb0.05:1delisted aug 5 · 11:14–12:38
Lane window

No telemetry frame reproduced these numbers. Located by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

15 Virginia Tech DARPA Lift Team 46 lb2 lb0.04:1delisted aug 4 · 2:06–3:15
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

16 RockSolid Team 2 54 lb2 lb0.03:1delisted aug 3 · 1:13–3:11
Lane window

The Monday and Tuesday feeds carry no weight columns, so no frame can reproduce this record. Located instead by the team name in the lane banner.

In the 15-lane grid

How the broadcast introduced them

Off the board

The standings hold 13 of the 100 teams DARPA accepted. Several of the other 87 filmed their whole campaign — the build, the test stand, the crash, the hangars at Dayton — and that footage shows what a fixed camera on a lane never can.

Hoarder Sam Entrepreneur  ·  Fairfax, Va.  ·  Hoarder Sam

An FPV-drone YouTuber who entered as a team and filmed the whole build. The most-watched account of the challenge by anyone, DARPA included, and the only one that also walks the hangars on site.

How the broadcast introduced them

Vitruvius Entrepreneur  ·  Tucson, Ariz.  ·  DigiFred Labs

A solo entry by an Army veteran and graduate student who published the build as a five-part series, from first sketch to prototype flights.

Burl Aerospace Small business  ·  Whitehouse Station, N.J.  ·  Burl Aerospace

Entered twice, as Alpha and Omega. Posting from Dayton as it happened — including a fall from 100 feet and a small fire, then flying again the next day.

Skyweaver Entrepreneur  ·  San Francisco Bay area  ·  Skyweaver

The solo entry of a freelance aerospace engineer whose earlier work includes Maryland's human-powered helicopter and Makani's airborne wind turbine.

How the broadcast introduced them

Sherman Aero Entrepreneur  ·  San Bernardino, Calif.  ·  Sherman Aeronautics

A family business building rotor systems for extreme weights on electric propulsion.

How the broadcast introduced them

ProtoCarbon Entrepreneur  ·  Coeur d'Alene, Idaho  ·  ProtoCarbon

A one-person composites shop run by an engineer who has built structures for space vehicles.

How the broadcast introduced them

SAMARA Entrepreneur  ·  Cambridge, Mass.  ·  Matthew Orosz

A hybrid parafoil-prop aircraft from a nonprofit that delivers cargo to remote solar minigrids in Africa.

Hovering Owls Academia  ·  Boca Raton, Fla.  ·  FAU Engineering

Eight researchers at Florida Atlantic's Center for Connected Autonomy and AI, building an autonomous tilt-rotor.

How the broadcast introduced them

Competing, but not identified

These say on camera that they are competing, but the name they use does not appear on DARPA's roster, so they cannot be tied to an entry with any confidence.

On why the rules are hard
Method — 5 rows carry a timestamp, 16 carry a window

Both feeds carry machine-readable data burned into the picture, and both are livestreams — so video time maps straight onto wall-clock ET.

  • The main broadcast shows a telemetry strip: lane, team, run time, speed, vehicle lb, payload lb, ratio — the exact leaderboard fields. Where those numbers reproduce a record, the moment is pinned to the second.
  • The 15-lane grid puts the team name in every lane banner all day, which gives complete coverage of who flew where even when no numbers were shown.
  • The catch: only Wednesday Aug 5 renders the weight columns. On Mon and Tue that screen area reads “full broadcast begins Thursday” — a record set on those days has its numbers nowhere on screen, so the best available answer is the lane and the window.

Read a timestamp as the moment the figures were on screen. Broadcast telemetry updates live during a run, so the aircraft is usually already flying when you land there.

A few teams filmed themselves, and that footage shows things the broadcast never does — a workshop, a crash, an engine on a test stand. Rows carrying a mark have some; open the row to find it. Teams were traced through DARPA’s own roster, because several compete under a name that is unsearchable on its own. Most of the field posted nothing at all, and those rows say nothing rather than guess.

Three broadcast frames showing the telemetry strip with the vehicle, payload and ratio figures that match the leaderboard.
The confirmed records as they appear on the broadcast — vehicle, payload and ratio reading 54.9 / 166.9 / 3.04, 32.4 / 111.9 / 3.46 and 42.9 / 112.4 / 2.62 against board rows of 55 / 167 / 3.04, 32 / 112 / 3.46 and 43 / 112 / 2.62.