The year coming to an end was challenging, yet inspiring and incredibly productive for the Noosphere community. The team of NGO “Association Noosphere”, together with its partners, friends, and engaged participants, added many bright and meaningful moments to their shared journey. Noosphere events brought together thousands of talented people, inspired and motivated them, and set new records. Let’s look back at what made 2025 truly memorable for the organization and everyone who took part in its projects and initiatives.
National Record and Children’s Art on Bank Cards
In 2025, the Noosphere Space Art Challenge national children’s contest was held for the sixth time. Young artists were invited to create illustrations on the theme “An Expedition to Uncharted Worlds.” More than 24,000 children from 25 countries submitted their imaginative works. Over the years, the initiative has brought together 81,177 children and teenagers in total. This impressive number officially set a Ukrainian national record as the largest national online children’s art competition dedicated to space.
This year’s contest stood out for two reasons. First, a new category was introduced for artworks created with the help of artificial intelligence, resulting in 2,550 AI-assisted entries.
Second, Sense Bank joined the project as the general partner. The bank’s team selected 11 standout artworks and turned them into designs for digital cards in the Sense SuperApp. Now anyone can add a touch of space to their everyday banking simply by choosing one of these children’s designs as their card cover.
Conquering Technology
In spring, the Noosphere Association, together with the Dnipro branch of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and ITSTEP Computer Academy, launched the Noosphere Ed&Tech educational project. This free online lecture series for Ukrainian teenagers focused on modern technologies and innovation.
Over four weeks, more than 200 teens from across Ukraine and abroad joined online lectures and workshops led by top experts in artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and programming. Alongside their mentors, participants learned how to master cutting-edge technologies, build mobile games, and work with various AI tools. The project was so well received that participants asked for even more lectures and hands-on sessions — perhaps the best feedback the organizers could hope for.
The Largest Space Hackathon
As tradition has it, NASA Space Apps Challenge took place on October 4–5, remaining the world’s largest space hackathon. Space enthusiasts from over 160 countries, including Ukraine, joined the event. The Dnipro location gathered the largest number of participants in its history and became the biggest hub in Europe.
The hackathon was held both online and offline at Noosphere Engineering School labs in Kyiv, Dnipro, Rivne, and Cherkasy. A record 434 participants formed 90 teams, helping Ukraine rank 1st in Europe and 47th worldwide among 555 locations.
Teams presented 83 projects developed in just 48 hours. Their ideas covered space biology, satellite data visualization, exoplanet research, agricultural analytics, educational platforms, and games that spark children’s interest in science.
The youngest participants were 6th–7th grade students from Kherson, and the winners included eight teams from different regions of Ukraine.
A Summer Intensive for Bright Minds from Dnipro
In August, Association Noosphere once again brought together the most talented teenagers from Dnipro and the surrounding region for Noosphere Tech Intensive 2.0 — a free summer school for students aged 14 to 16. From all applicants, organizers selected 30 teens with the strongest motivation letters.
Throughout August, participants met weekly for engaging classes led by top professionals in their fields. They explored the basics of robotics, AI-powered chatbot development, cryptography, and computer game programming.
The program concluded with a visit to Planetarium Noosphere, where graduates learned more about stars and planets, watched an educational dome film, and, of course, received certificates and gifts.
Space Week 2025: Movies, Adventures, and Robots
World Space Week was packed with diverse events, all united by a shared love for the Universe. On October 9, the interactive event “Space Express: A Journey Through the Solar System” took place, organized by Universe Space Tech magazine and Association Noosphere. This was a real-time online adventure where viewers shaped the storyline themselves. More than 300 participants registered and, together with experts Kyrylo Maksymov and Oleksandr Burlaka, chose destinations, designed spacecraft, assembled crews, and ventured into deep space. Along the way to Mars and Europa, they faced malfunctions, cosmic phenomena, and unexpected challenges. No one knew how the mission would end — but everyone made it through.
On October 10, “Space Shots: Science vs. Cinema” was held at Planetarium Noosphere, with online viewers joining as well. This time, the theme was “The Clash of Worlds.” Over 100 guests watched films about interstellar wars, alien invasions, and galactic conflicts, while experts in astronomy, physics, and space technology helped separate scientific reality from cinematic fiction.
And on October 17, the youngest space fans embarked on a low-Earth orbit mission as part of the VEX RoboWeek STEM course.
VEX RoboWeek is an annual Noosphere event that combines robotics workshops using VEX kits with competitions based on newly acquired skills. This year’s theme, “Starship Mission,” brought together 36 children aged 10 to 14. Guided by Noosphere VEX Events ambassador Tetiana Kovalova, they explored VEX GO kits, built their own robot heroes, learned basic commands, and tested their creations during a space mission challenge.
Rocket Modeling: Real and Virtual
From May to June, the nationwide Student Rocketry Competition took place, organized by the AssociationNoosphere together with the Ukrainian State Center for Extracurricular Education and Ukraine Spacemodelling Sport Federation. Over two months, more than 120 participants from 14 regions joined the competition.
Students competed in several technical categories, including rubber-powered and parachute models, theoretical challenges, and pneumatic models. All participants showed remarkable dedication and creativity, with final results separated by the smallest margins. Winners received gifts, cash prizes, and — most importantly — valuable experience and unforgettable impressions.
Those who wanted to try rocket modeling in a virtual environment could join Noosphere Space Games, held for the fifth time in autumn. Nearly 500 participants spent two months completing missions in Kerbal Space Program, a realistic spaceflight simulator that recreates real physics, aerodynamics, orbital mechanics, engine performance, fuel consumption, and module interactions. For Association Noosphere, these competitions are a powerful tool for developing STEM education and promoting space engineering.
Meeting the Teachers of the Future and Traveling to Book Country
On June 19–20, the Teachers of the Future Festival took place in Lviv, bringing together more than 2,500 educators from across Ukraine, along with Ukrainian and international opinion leaders and representatives of NGOs. Association Noosphere joined the event to present its work in promoting STEM education. Educators took part in an interactive STEM quiz with prizes and were invited to join Noosphere initiatives.
In April and September, Noosphere once again became part of Book Country, one of the largest book festivals at VDNH in Kyiv. Together with Universe Space Tech, the organization presented printed magazine editions, books, merchandise, and accessories from the Noosphere Store. In addition, in collaboration with the Ukraine Spacemodelling Sport Federation, Noosphere hosted a series of workshops for young visitors. Nearly 200 children learned how to build simple rocket models under the guidance of national champions in rocket modeling.
This is just a small part of the big and exciting journey that was Noosphere’s 2025. We, the team of the Noosphere Association, are deeply grateful to everyone who walked this path with us — attending events, joining initiatives, and supporting our social projects through purchases at the Noosphere Store.
We are proud that nine years ago a philanthropist and entrepreneur Max Polyakov founded Association Noosphere, and that ever since we have continued this mission: developing STEM education in Ukraine, inspiring young people through technology, and creating opportunities for a new generation of engineers and innovators.
The year will be remembered for dozens of big and small events, hundreds of creative ideas, thousands of children’s smiles, and a shared understanding that all of this is for the sake of Ukraine’s technological and innovative future — one being built by those who, not long ago, were drawing space fantasies and assembling their very first robots.
