CubeSat Captain.

Lesson 1

Sizes and standards

Every CubeSat is built from 1U cubes (10 cm each side, about 1–2 kg). Stack them up and you get bigger sizes: 3U (three cubes — like a loaf of bread, the size of our CubeSat33!), 6U, and up to 12U. More cubes mean more room for power, instruments, and fuel — but also more weight and cost.

Lesson 2

Getting to orbit

Most CubeSats reach space by rideshare — sharing a rocket with lots of other satellites, like carpooling to space. They usually live in Low Earth Orbit, about 400–600 km up. Up there a CubeSat zooms around the whole planet in only about 90 minutes, traveling roughly 7.5 kilometers every second!

Lesson 3

The four key systems

A working CubeSat needs four teams of parts:

⚡ Power — solar panels plus a battery for the night side of Earth.
🧭 ADCS (attitude control) — keeps it pointed the right way, like a steering system.
📶 Comms — a radio and antenna to send and receive messages.
🔬 Payload — the instrument that does the mission's real job.

Lesson 4

Talking to Earth is hard

Because a CubeSat moves so fast, it can only "see" a ground-station antenna for about 5 to 15 minutes each time it passes overhead. The rest of its trip around Earth, it's flying over oceans and deserts with nobody to talk to. That quiet gap is called the blackout — and closing it is exactly what the CubeSat33 mission is all about.

Lesson 5

The real CubeSat program

NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) and its ELaNa missions ("Educational Launch of Nanosatellites") have sent 150+ student CubeSats to space from more than 100 schools and organizations. The first U.S. high-school CubeSat, TJ3Sat, flew thanks to this program. Maybe your school is next!