Space station project designed by Romanian students wins NASA prize

The ZGRIPTOR project put together by a team of eight students from the International College of Computer Science in Bucharest and the Victor Babes National College won second prize at the NASA Space Settlement Competition in the USA.

ZGRIPTOR represents a space station in its entirety, from the basic structures to the calculations for placing it in orbit, the needs of the inhabitants, the resource recycling systems used, waste recycling, and the economic and governance model. The ultimate goal of the project is to use available resources to create a self-sustaining settlement in an Aldrin-Cycler orbit between Earth and Mars.

The students have succeeded in designing a space station that has the capacity to house 10,000 people for an extended period of time. The project aims to stimulate innovation in space and aerospace engineering.

“These talented young people represent the future. I’m glad we were able to be part of their story and I’m sure we’ll hear from them again in the future,” said Armand Domuta, general manager Restart Energy, in the press release.

More than 4,500 projects from 19 countries entered the competition. The Romanian students were supported by Restart Energy with a EUR 13,000 sponsorship.

The finalists of the competition had the opportunity to present their projects in front of other participants and aerospace personalities at the ISDC 2023 conference held recently in the United States. Among the big names present at the event were Dylan Taylor, president and CEO of Voyager Space, a global leader in the space exploration business and investor in the technologies of the future.

The winning team is made up of eight students (classes X, XI, and XII) from the International College of Computer Science in Bucharest and the Victor Babes National College (Cătălin- Alexandru Tonia), passionate about astrophysics, physics, mathematics, and chemistry: George- Răzvan Chirilă (national Olympian in astrophysics), Vladimir-George Necula (international Olympian in physics and astrophysics), Bușcu Filip (national Olympian in astrophysics), Alesia- Nicole Untesu (national Olympian in chemistry), Alexandru-Andrei Untesu (national Olympian in physics and mathematics), Palada Andra (national Olympian in English).

Some of the students are also members of the Romspace team, which recently launched the first Romanian satellite into space. The satellite they worked on for two years reached space at the same time as Elon Musk’s rocket. From there it will soon transmit images and data. In the autumn, the team plans to launch a new satellite.

(Photo source: Restart Energy & ZGRIPTOR)