Alba Orbital to launch educational PocketQubes from Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, with Ideia Space.
Tom Walkinshaw - Alba Orbital Founder/CEO & Leonardo Souza Ideia Space CEO
June, 2025 - Glasgow, UK - Alba Orbital, the world’s leading PocketQube satellite launch provider, is excited to announce a new international partnership with Ideia Space, a Brazilian education startup dedicated to advancing STEAM and spatial education. Ideia Space is coordinating two new PocketQube missions from student teams in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
PocketQubes are pico-satellites measuring just 5 cm³ per unit (or ‘P’). The accessibility they offer, combined with Alba Orbital’s turnkey launch services, has created a clear pathway to space for educational institutions, startups, and emerging space programs
About the missions
Mission 1: Sari Competition Satellite – Saudi Arabia
The first PocketQube mission comes from the Saudi Space Agency’s Sari competition, a national initiative for undergraduate teams to design, build, and operate their own satellite. The program was launched to encourage STEM education and inspire future generations in the space sector.
The selected satellite will be the result of months of engineering and testing by a university student team. The expected payloads include, space-based imaging, real-time telemetry, IoT data experiments, and educational research modules. The Saudi Space Agency will support the teams throughout development via mentoring, technical workshops and lab facilities
This mission showcases how PocketQubes serve as a powerful leaning platform, enabling students to gain invaluable hands on experience with a fully operational satellite
Mission 2: Educational Cube from Azerbaijan
The second PocketQube is being developed by a university team from Azerbaijan. The mission serves as a foundation for future aerospace research and university-level satellite programs.
The satellite will feature sensor-driven experiments, onboard data processing systems, and a custom telemetry framework to capture environmental data in Low Earth Orbit. The project gives students direct experience in spacecraft systems engineering, communication protocols, and mission operations.
This mission showcases Azerbaijan’s growing investment in STEM education and allows students to gain invaluable practical experience in the industry.
Both PocketQubes will be deployed into orbit using Alba Orbital’s own AlbaPod deployer, the most flight proven and reliable PocketQube deployer in the world.
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ABOUT ALBA ORBITAL
Alba Orbital (UK, USA, Germany) is the world’s leading PocketQube company, having delivered 53 pico-satellites on orbit to date. Alba is a vertically integrated NewSpace company ‘democratising access to space,’ providing turnkey solutions from advanced pico-satellite platforms, low-cost launch opportunities, and ground station services. Alba has worked with over 30 customers across the globe. Contact: contact@albaorbital.com.
ABOUT IDEIA SPACE
Ideia Space is a Brazilian educational startup founded within the University of Brasília. The organisation focuses on transforming learning through STEAM and spatial education. By coordinating international missions like these, Ideia Space aims to unlock global access to space as an educational tool for critical thinking, creativity, and real-world engineering experience.
Find out more: www.ideiaspace.org