CUBEEK CubeSat Educational Kit

CUBEEK is a complete 1U CubeSat training kit designed by Orion Space in Nepal, built to teach students the fundamentals of satellite engineering through hands-on assembly and operation. The kit follows the standard CubeSat form factor (10x10x10cm) and includes all major satellite subsystems: an Electrical Power System (EPS) with solar panel and Li-ion battery charging, an On-Board Computer (OBC) based on the Arduino Pro Mini, a LoRa-based communication module for satellite-to-ground data relay, and a multi-sensor payload board. The structure is built from 3D-printed PLA parts and 2mm clear acrylic panels, making it lightweight and easy to assemble.

The payload subsystem carries an impressive array of sensors for a kit at this price point. The MPU6050 6-axis IMU provides accelerometer and gyroscope data for attitude determination, the BMP085 barometric pressure sensor measures altitude and atmospheric conditions, a DS18B20 Dallas digital temperature sensor monitors thermal conditions, the TEMT6000 ambient light sensor tracks illumination levels, and a NEO-6M GPS module provides positioning data. The EPS subsystem uses an INA219 current/voltage monitor for housekeeping telemetry, giving students real experience with power budgeting — a critical skill in spacecraft design.

The kit comes with a complete ground station receiver and a Node.js-based dashboard application that plots real-time telemetry graphs on localhost:4000. All firmware is written in Arduino C++ and is fully open source under the MIT license on GitHub. Two variants are available: the standard CUBEEK with LoRa (RA-02, SX1278) communication, and the CUBEEK-CW variant which uses an RFM26W transceiver supporting CW, FSK, and GFSK modulation with an external dipole antenna — ideal for amateur radio operators and more advanced RF experimentation. Both kit and fully assembled options are offered.

Whether you are a university instructor building a space engineering curriculum, a STEM educator looking for an engaging classroom project, or a hobbyist curious about satellite technology, CUBEEK provides a realistic and affordable introduction to CubeSat systems without the complexity and cost of flight-grade hardware.