PocketQube Kits
Helping you fly your very first space project 🚀
The field of small satellite development has seen a surge in interest and innovation, with PocketQubes emerging as an accessible option for space exploration. These tiny satellites, about the size of a Rubik’s Cube (5x5x5 cm and under half a kilogram), offer teams—from start-ups to universities and high school students—hands-on experience in building, launching, and operating space missions.
Interested in starting your own PocketQube mission? Alba Orbital has launched over 41 PocketQube missions globally. This blog provides a list of PocketQube Kit suppliers to help you design your first mission!
ORION SPACE
ORION Space Nepal is a space research and educational organization in Nepal that promotes space science and technology. They offer PocketQube kits and satellite training programs to clients worldwide. The team launched their 1st satellite in 2021, and have since supported many PocketQube teams with their satellite builds including some of our rideshare customers like the International Computing High School of Bucharest and SpaceIn Malaysia.
Orion Space offers PocketQube training kits from as low as $500, and can provide them in various form factors from 1P to 3P. If you’re looking to go orbital, Orion Space also offer custom flight models tailored to your mission needs. The great thing is that their satellite buses already have flight heritage, and the team are happy to train your team as you learn to build!
TWiggs SPACE Lab (TSL)
Founded in 2014 by Professor Bob Twiggs, Twigg's Space Lab inspires future space explorers. Bob Twiggs, the "father of the CubeSat" and co-inventor of PocketQubes, designed affordable PocketQube kits for easy assembly, making space exploration accessible to all.
Twigg's Space Lab provides educational resources like online courses, tutorials, and lesson plans. The picture shows TSL’s Cubito QB2 PocketQube System, which includes various adapters, subsystems, manuals, software libraries, and a Pelican case for storage. Download the QB2 product brochure and flyer here!
Ieee Geoscience and remote sensing society
The IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) presents the "Open PocketQube Kit" educational initiative.
Developed by the NanoSat Lab at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), this affordable open-source kit includes a complete PocketQube structure with subsystems for power supply (EPS), attitude control (ADCS), onboard computing (OBC), long-range communications (LoRa), and payload.
Three models are available: Po Cat-1 with a VGA camera, and Po Cat-2 and Po Cat-3 for monitoring radio-frequency interference (RFI) at the L-band (1–2 GHz) and K-band (24–25 GHz) for tracking 5G emissions. Documentation available here.
UPC Space program
The scalable PocketQube KIT, developed by UPC students within the Horus mission of the UPC Space Program student association, originated from the team's requirement for an affordable platform to integrate an electrodynamic tether deployment system (EDT) payload in 2022. To address the high costs of existing kits, they proposed designing and creating a 3D-printed PocketQube KIT. This picosatellite, available in 1, 2, or 3 units, features deployable solar arrays, enabling the development of satellite technologies with limited resources.
open sourced projects
As you browse through these PocketQube kit suppliers, don't forget to explore other successful open sourced projects that have made it easier than ever to get your 1st space project off the ground.
For more mission inspiration, check out our previous blog where we detail six exciting space proven PocketQube mission ideas to ignite your passion for space exploration.
Want to learn more about how to launch your 1st satellite? Check out our ‘how to’ page, which includes guides and case studies. Get ready to launch into the next frontier!