Space In A Box: Constructing A Model 1U Cubesat From Scratch

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15 Sept 2025

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If you’re a maker, a ham, or a general electronics nerd, then you probably understand what it’s like to have too many projects on the go. But, in the modern era, we’re also very spoilt for choice. Not just on projects, but also parts and even collaborative open source work.

As such, there are some super interesting projects for the modern radio nerd to tackle. Some of these are able to be tackled in a day, some of them have a heap of utility and some of them…well, we build those because we can, not always because we should.

Today, we have one such project, and it’s pretty exciting to break this down. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) has spent plenty of time providing the community with resources and tools to help make amateur radio more accessible and more interesting to those who might be interested in exploring.

With this project, though, they’ve outdone themselves. They’ve open-sourced an entire cubesat design, complete with RF payload and charging system, all in the name of making science both fun and more accessible. The project is known as the cubesat simulator, and not only is it designed to get you hands-on with the cubesat framework. It’s also designed to spark curiosity in young minds while helping to show the utility of space. All this in a single 10x10x10cm cube!

AO-07 was launched in 1974 using the non-standard format. Still works though. Source: Wikipedia.

The Background

Modern electronics have met modern launch capabilities and, as such, it’s never been easier (relatively speaking) to launch your own satellite. While most of these projects will focus on nano or pico sats, for commercial operators, most utility has been found with the standard format cubesat bus.

Based on a 10x10x10cm cube, the buses can be stacked to increase payload. This means that they are also available in 2U, 3U and even 12U sizes. They typically differ greatly in size and design from the satellites of old, but the cubesat theory has helped maximise the usage of excess space, while standardising the format and overall design of smaller satellite projects.

This has helped lower the overall launch cost and, in some instances, omit it entirely by applying for educational launch slots. A great example of this is the Funcube-1 (AO-73) satellite. Based on a 1U cubesat design, it has a high-powered telemetry beacon available to students and, in its downtime, it can be configured to operate as an amateur radio repeater as well.

AMSAT are no stranger to the 1U design thanks to the FOX satellite program. While the program had mixed success, 3 Fox satellites would eventually be launched into orbit. With AMSAT predominantly relying on volunteer support to remain functional, it makes sense that they’d share some of this information and experience.

The cubesat simulator aims to meet all these goals. With a 3D printed frame, pre-compiled circuit boards, as well as software to bring the whole thing together, tackling this project is as easy as it gets for bringing a satellite project to life within the confines of your own workshop or work area.

For the price, you won’t be building a fully flight-certified model. But, you will build a model that talks charge and can be controlled, just like a real cubesat. This means it’s a great project for learning.

The CubeSat Frame

No need for flight certification means that we can skip some of the requirements that we’d typically use for weight and strength. So, rather than having a fully rated structure, we can use the template and a 3D printer to construct a model that gives us adequate strength and spacing without going overboard.

Its small size means it should work great for hobbyist-level printers, and for the prototype, PLA should be sufficient as the structure won’t be subject to weather damage.

What does this mean? It means it’s affordable while being resilient enough to withstand the rigours of construction, disassembly and testing. While the AMSAT design isn’t the only cubesat prototype in town, it is the only one that comes pre-prepared to take the boards, solar panels and control system. To grab the STL files to print yourself, visit the cubesat simulator wiki.

The Circuit Boards

Printing the STL files will get you a nice little prototype, but unfortunately, the prototype is deaf, blind and dumb until it’s mated to the boards with the correct software to make the whole thing work.

Here, we have two options. North American residents can purchase the boards from AMSAT directly. However, you’ll need an American address for shipping. If this isn’t an option, all plans are uploaded to PCBWay, meaning that you can order the boards directly as prototypes.
PCBWay offer the boards as a bare unit, although if your soldering skills aren’t up to the job, they are happy to assemble them for a nominal fee. With predominantly through-hole designs, though, it should be a straightforward assembly for the average ham.

We took PCBway up on the offer to send us the partly completed boards with the expectation that they’ll get finished off in-house, with a write-up done for anyone who might be interested in following at home.

You’ll also be hearing more about PCBway in upcoming articles as we’re teaming up to release some ready-made Software Defined Radio accessories to help up the performance of your SDR station. To celebrate, we’ll be giving some away to our readers free of charge.

The Software Repository

The cubsat sim software is designed to run on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2, which acts as the Command & Data Handling machine, while the onboard sensors are configured to run off an additional Raspberry Pi Pico. If you’ve worked with electronics before, you’ll see some familiar part numbers like the BME280 Pressure Sensor and the MPU6050 Gyro Sensor that have been included to keep the overall cost down without affecting the overall simplicity.

While the software will run on a Pi Zero without the AMSAT boards, when run in conjunction with boards, you’ll unlock the full operating features of the simulator. And, it must be said that this is quite impressive. Not only will you get a beacon that's compatible with Data Under Voice mode, you’ll also get a full functional transponder as well as an APRS beacon. The system does run at reasonably low power levels, but this shouldn’t be much of an issue, given that, for demonstration purposes, the machine should be pretty close to you.

The coolest thing about the way it’s been set up is that with an RTL-SDR, AMSAT’s Fox Telem program and a laptop, you can obtain and decode full telemetry data just like you would from one of AMSAT’s on-orbit systems. This makes the whole system extremely interactive once it’s built.

Next Steps

To complete the project yourself, you’ll need some smaller components to finish off each part of the payload and control board. Thankfully, the designers have also included a full bill of materials, which should make the ordering and design process a little easier to get your head around.

Take a look at it via this link to find the additional parts you’ll need for the project.

Then, visit this link to order your own set of boards directly from PCBWay

So far, the Radio Hackers simulator has a fully built frame that’s been assembled and is now waiting for its hardware. The Pi Zero was salvaged from an old project, while the batteries were cells taken from some retired hardware. The SD card to run the software has also been flashed and is ready to install.

The next part is constructing the antennas and finalising the components on the boards so they are ready to be mounted and tested.

What are you building at the moment?

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