Entry One - Cubes

Rendition of a CubeSat Satellite in Orbit around Earth

What is a CubeSat?

A CubeSat is a miniature satellite, usually shaped like a cube or a rectangular prism, that can house small equipment to conduct measurements onboard or take images while orbiting Earth. The original CubeSat project was started in 1999 by two professors at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and at Stanford University to provide affordable access to space for academic communities to conduct research. Since the original inception of the program, big universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools, and even elementary schools have participated in the program. NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative provides a free ride to space to qualified CubeSats on future launches with excess payload capacity in exchange for a report on the results of the CubeSat investigation.