Cardboard CubeSat

I really like rockets and space. I recently read an article about students who built and launched a micro-satellite into orbit. The type of satellite they made is called a CubeSat and they are very small. I thought it would be cool to make one out of cardboard and other supplies you can find at home. (Hopefully the model will cost less than a real CubeSat. I'm pretty sure we won't break the $50,000 mark.)

You will need:

• Cardboard
• Glue Gun and Hot Glue
• Scissors
• Paint
• Black Spray Paint

You can get cardboard from package boxes. You will need the corrugated type, as the cardboard from cereal boxes is basically thick cardstock.

It doesn't really matter what brand of glue gun you use, as long as it works.

Any scissors are fine.

The paint should be in tubes. I used water-based paint, but the only reason I did was because we had no acrylic. However, the water-based paint worked perfectly and dried quickly, so it doesn't really matter.

Any color of spray paint will work. You can use other colors than black, but I had some and I thought it would look nice.

The CubeSat we are making is composed of 3 parts.

• Box
• Solar Panels
• Decoration!

The box is the core of the CubeSat and everything else will be built around it.

Do not glue on the lid!

Dimensions: You need 6 squares of cardboard. Each square should 5 x 5 inches.

Tips: Make sure that you align each square with the base, then glue them together from the inside. This will hide the glue so you cannot see from the outside. When you are finished the CubeSat will look much better. Sometimes you might not want to only glue on the inside, because the bonds between the cardboard pieces will be a little weaker, but since we are (probably) not launching this to Low Earth Orbit, this won't matter.

Once you are finished, Nice Job! You have completed the core of the CubeSat!

What does it need now? Nothing but Solar Panels! (And Paint, and Science Experiments, and a lot more stuff. But that's for later.)

Every self-respecting spacecraft needs solar panels, right?

You need to cut out 2 panels. Each panel is 7 x 2 inches.

Draw the panels out on cardboard. and then cut them out.

Don't glue them on just yet!

First, we have to spraypaint... (Or is it Spraypaint? Definitely not SprayPaint.)

You have completely cut out everything you need! You could say you have your work cut out for you.

However, it looks a little... bland. Get out your spraypaint and go outside with a mask. Finding a mask should be a lot easier than it used to be.

Tip: Remember to shake the paint before you use it. Paint both the Box and the Solar Panels.

Now, on to the long awaited step... Decorating!

This is the hardest section (all of decoration is, not just this part) so far, but also the most fun!

We have solar panels, but they don't look that Solar Paneley yet. Taking inspiration from photos of CubeSats online, I cut out 4 panels of foil, slightly smaller the cardboard panels. Then, I drew a solar panel pattern on with a blue sharpie, and glued them foil to the cardboard.

Tip: Instead of using large globs of glue to attach the foil, it is better to use lots of small drops. (See photos above for what I mean.)

Finally, you can glue the completed Solar Panels on to the core.

Make sure you glue them on opposite sides of the core, and make sure they are centered. (See the photos above for what it looked like when I finished this step.)

Important: Please, please make sure to get this perfectly glued on. It would be super disappointing to get it wrong after all that work. (Mine got a tad messed up, and one Panel is higher than the other.)

Finally, we can finish the CubeSat off with some box decoration...

Now that you have a box with solar panels, and a lid that can come on and off, it is time to add some Science! Mystery Goo, anyone?

I used 4 separate pieces to make the CubeSat look better.

1. Antenna
2. Vent
3. Thermometer
4. Battery

Starting off with the first, the antenna.

I took a barbecue skewer and cut it in half. Then I painted it gold, to give it a cool look.

Once the paint was dry, I used the other half of the skewer to punch a hole in the lid 1/3 of the way across, and then slid the antenna in. I glued the antenna to the cardboard on the bottom side of the lid, so you can't see the glue.

Next up, the vent.

I cut out a 1.25 x 3 inch piece of cardboard and then painted it dark grey. Then I cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller, peeled off the top layer of paper to expose the ripple, and painted that piece light grey. Lastly, I glued the smaller piece on top of the big one. I glued this next to the antenna on the lid of the box

Second to last, the battery.

I cut out a 2 x 3 inch piece of cardboard and painted it a dark grey. Then I cut out two smaller rectangles, and trimmed them until I liked how they fit. I painted the small rectangles yellow, and once that yellow layer dried I added lines and the letters AA. I glued the yellow rectangles on to the big rectangle, and then glued that to one side of the front of the CubeSat.

Finally, the thermometer.

This one was the hardest to make, since I had to paint it with a color gradient, and also it is sort of strange since a real CubeSat would never display the temperature on the side for aliens to see. I cut out a 1 x 3 inch piece of cardboard, and drew a black rectangle outline and the letters H at the top and C at the bottom. Once that dried, I added the color gradient from orange to blue and the marker lines. I glued this to the other side of the CubeSat's front.

Important: See the photos above for examples of what I made.

Congrats! You have made a awesome CubeSat that doubles as a storage container for other stuff!

Note: If all else fails, and the CubeSat looks terrible, just add Moar Struts.