These awards are nowhere near enough to make a working aircraft, of course, and these concepts are just that, concepts — but a couple million bucks can easily be the difference between a powerful new technology sitting on a shelf in a lab or getting some real-world testing.

Two of the awards are more focused than others. Electra, for instance, already has a flying prototype for its electric aircraft, and the award money will go towards advancing its existing tech. JetZero is combining a cryogenic liquid hydrogen fuel source with the unusual blended wing fuselage you see pictured up top.