Kyrgyz Space Program

Young people in Kyrgyzstan, despite having access to the Internet, lack an understanding about the current job market and professional opportunities. In connection with cultural norms, parents have a strong impact on children’s career choices. Furthermore, the country lacks educational platforms that would extend one’s perspectives and give an overview of current career opportunities. Young people in rural areas are even more disadvantaged, as more than 50% do not know about universities and educational opportunities. There is also a gap in the supply of STEM workers – the demand for specific engineering specializations and not only is rising in the country.  

The Kyrgyz Space Program engages youth, and specifically girls, in STEM through satellite building and launching. For this purpose, the team created an online educational platform for learning the basics of physics, astronomy, and aerospace engineering. Participants explore aerospace engineering with the help of mentors from all around the world, including experts from NASA. The learning journey is gamified by depicting the progress as a CubeSat assembling process. Sessions are delivered in local languages.  

The Kyrgyz Space Program is tackling the quality education SDG goal, aiming to engage at least 1000 students via the online platform to learn about aerospace engineering and satellite building in one year. In terms of the decent work SDG goal, the team plans to prepare girls to access the future job market and support them on their educational and professional path.  

“Perfect for a project in the initial stage. From design thinking and business plan creation to crowdfunding and content creating – all of these topics are new to us and were extremely useful.” 

Visit Kyrgyz Space Program website

or follow the organization’s page