A base beneath Mars: Butian at GFSSM 2025
At the 13–17 August 2025 GFSSM in Beijing, Butian's Tianshu and Tianquan teams advanced to the national final. Tianshu also earned Best Qualifying Proposal. The scenario placed a Mars base deep inside a lava tube in the year 2075.
The teams at the 2025 event.
Designing for a Martian lava tube
The imagined base sat tens of metres below the surface. The brief included an algae factory, mineral extraction and production of carbon fibre from the atmosphere. Those ambitions needed to be tied to a defensible plan for habitat, infrastructure, structure and operations.
Two companies on the podium
| Team | Virtual company | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Tianshu | Orbital Industries | Runner-up |
| Tianquan | Jinwu Energy | Third place |
Tianshu member Wu Yucheng became company president and received the Best Leader award. Shen Yue was vice president of business, Gu Chong directed structure and Chen Ran directed infrastructure. In Tianquan's company, Huang Guandiyang was vice president of business and won Best Speaker; Zhao Yihan directed structure.
The 24-hour design challenge
New members began with practice briefs and help from older club members. At the final, students ran for company roles and rehearsed their defense. At 8 a.m. on 15 August, the companies received the 24-hour challenge. Early confusion, partial redesigns, overnight shifts and final checks all became part of the design process.
Ideas had to be reconciled across teams and schools.
The results followed five days of work and collaboration.
Former Butian competitor Hu Yue returned as a mentor, while older members including Qian Kun, Xiang Zhenan and Yang Zihan helped review proposals. The public account also records a late-night company retrospective, where members described each other's contributions and what could improve.
Adapted from the Hangzhou No.2 High School article on GFSSM 2025, supplied by the Butian Engineering Club. Photographs come from the original article.