Students from Almaty’s Nazarbayev Intellectual School Win First and Second Place at NASA’s Space Settlement Contest 2025
Students of the Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics and Mathematics in Almaty have brought pride to their country on the global stage by securing first and second place at the Space Settlement Contest 2025, an international competition organized by NASA and the National Space Society.
This year, more than 26,000 students from 25 countries participated in the contest, presenting prototypes of future space settlements. The two teams from the Intellectual School were recognized as the best for their projects combining scientific imagination and engineering principles.
The first-place winner, “YURT,” is a concept for an autonomous space station orbiting Jupiter, designed to accommodate 20,000 to 30,000 people. The station features artificial gravity and full infrastructure to support human life. The structure includes cargo spacecrafts named Tulpar and Qyran, auxiliary modules Yu-1 and Yu-2, as well as agro-sectors and several artificial ecosystems to sustain flora and fauna. The project was developed by Anastassiya Tsoy, Yuliya Kim, Kamila Ertiskyzy, and Ilyas Daulet.
The second-place project, “Icarus,” is a modern space station intended for 45,000 people in orbit around Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. It features natural radiation shielding, energy generation through wind turbines and bioreactors, and autonomous life support systems using aeroponics and chlorella. The team behind the project includes Asan Tabyldy, Arman Temirbulatov, Sabyrzhan Inkarbek, Tomiris Kuzbakova, Mukhidin Zhaparov, Bagdaulet Alisher, Uali Berik, Aisulu Nursultan, Arlan Tairov, and Bakyt Aslan, under the leadership of 12th-grade student Adil Sandyqbai.
“When we prepared our first project for the Space Settlement Contest in 2022, we had no prior experience, no successful cases to look to, and no community to guide us. We were the first to take this path and took a risk. That year, we became the first Kazakhstani team to win the competition—and we won first place,” recalled Adil Sandyqbai.
Adil is one of the first students in Kazakhstan to take an interest in rocket science and space engineering. Through his dedication to this field, he aimed not only to shape his own future but also to inspire an entire generation. This year, a new team has followed in his footsteps and continued the legacy of success.
“The level of participants grows each year, which makes achievements like this even more meaningful. I believe we’ve not only given them knowledge and experience but also boosted their self-confidence. I’m confident this initiative will continue. These students will contribute not only within school but also to the development of the aerospace industry in our country,” said Adil.
For context, the Space Settlement Contest is an annual international competition for high school students, initiated by renowned American physicist Gerard O’Neill. Participants use their knowledge in physics, biology, technology, architecture, and ecology to create models of future space habitats.
