Skip to content
CubeSTEM MissionLabCubeSTEMMissionLab

CUBESTEM MISSIONLAB

Learn space engineering by running missions.

Students solve a spacecraft problem, test an idea, run the mission and choose a solution from the results. From Grade 6 to university, on one spacecraft model.

Try a missionSee the missionsBring it to your school

How it works

Every mission runs the same way.

  1. 01

    Learn

    Understand the mission.

  2. 02

    Simulate

    Test your ideas.

  3. 03

    Operate

    Run the spacecraft mission.

  4. 04

    Analyse

    Use telemetry, images and evidence.

Underneath, each mission runs the full teacher-guided journey of seven stages. Readiness is local and formative; completion is possible at any formative band and is not qualification. The stages are set out in the curriculum detail below.

Missions

Spacecraft problems students can actually solve.

Five missions that explain the rest. All 13 are teacher-guided, software-only pilots pending educator review and classroom evidence.

Stop the spin

How do you stop something spinning in space, where there is nothing to push against?

These results are produced by a model. Nothing here was measured on a real spacecraft.

Run this mission

Survive the shadow

When the Sun disappears, which spacecraft copes better - and how would you know?

The battery, voltage and temperature numbers are produced by a model. Nothing here was measured on a real spacecraft.

Run this mission

Trust the telemetry

If the instruments get worse, does the spacecraft get worse - or does it just stop knowing where it is?

The instrument readings are simulated by a teaching model. No real sensor was measured.

Run this mission

Find the failure

The payload worked and the data never arrived. What stopped it?

These mission readings are produced by a model. No real mission was flown.

Run this mission

Get the picture home

A sharper camera takes better pictures. Does it get more of them home?

These results are produced by a model. No real image was captured and no real downlink took place.

Run this mission
Browse all 13 runnable pilot missions

Tracked ≠ signal received ≠ data decoded

Who it is for

For students, teachers and schools.

For students

Your spacecraft. Your mission.

Solve problems instead of only reading about them. Make a prediction, run the mission, read the evidence and decide. No account needed to start.

For teachers

Ready missions. Clear lessons. Real engineering.

Brief the mission, guide preparation, confirm local readiness, facilitate the run, review evidence and reflection, then explain the local record. Prepare once, then reuse the shape.

For schools

Turn your STEM programme into a space programme.

Start with one class in software, then grow the strand across year groups. Clearer language and bounded controls at school level; deeper analysis, provenance and verification at university level.

Same spacecraft. Completely different academic depth.

First school pilot

How we would start with a school

A teacher-guided, software-only Grade 7 trial for 10–15 learners, preferably in pairs. Two sessions of about 55–70 minutes. No student account, official grade, or hardware required. The reusable lesson shell supports the trial but does not replace the required educator review or manual classroom evidence.

  • Session 1: Attitude → Sunlight → Energy
  • Session 2: Orbit → Pass → Ground Link

Evidence: prediction, observation, engineering decision, one model limitation, reflection, and a pre/post concept check.

Start with the Grade 7 missionRead the school programme

Current, mapped, and later

  • Available today: academic framework, six depths, 13 runnable pilot missions, teacher-guided school pilot plan.
  • Mapped but unavailable: MLX-12 only.
  • Under later validation: classroom usability and educator feedback.
  • Optional now: supervised KidSAT demonstrations. Formal Twin correlation remains commissioning work.
Curriculum detail: depths, stages and learning outcomes

One spacecraft. Increasing academic depth.

Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grades 9–10, Grades 11–12 and University learners use the same Digital Twin. Language and controls change. The underlying spacecraft model does not fork.

  1. 01 · ML-A Explorer

    Grade 6

    Observe & Explain

  2. 02 · ML-A Explorer

    Grade 7

    Control & Compare

  3. 03 · ML-A Explorer

    Grade 8

    Design & Justify

  4. 04 · ML-B Builder

    Grades 9–10

    Calculate · Model · Compare · Test

  5. 05 · ML-C Engineer

    Grades 11–12

    Analyse · Program · Evaluate · Optimise

  6. 06 · ML-D Mission Systems

    University

    Design · Integrate · Verify · Validate

Learners predict, run, compare evidence, explain and decide.

Every mission follows one teacher-guided product journey of seven stages. Readiness is local and formative; completion is possible at any formative band and is not qualification.

  1. 01Mission
  2. 02Preparation
  3. 03Readiness
  4. 04Operate
  5. 05Evidence
  6. 06Complete
  7. 07Recognition

What they learn

Ten Mission Learning Outcomes. These are CubeSTEM competency descriptors, not an accredited syllabus mapping.

  1. 01

    Systems Thinking

  2. 02

    Measurement & Data

  3. 03

    Physics & Mathematics

  4. 04

    Modelling, Dynamics & Control

  5. 05

    Computing, Telemetry & Communications

  6. 06

    Engineering Inquiry, Test & Verification

  7. 07

    Orbit & Mission Operations

  8. 08

    Payload, Information & Mission Value

  9. 09

    Evidence & Technical Communication

  10. 10

    Teamwork, Safety & Professional Practice

The full framework: 12 mission families and 15 mapped experiences

12 mission families

The academic structure covers twelve families. Every runnable surface remains a pilot pending educator review.

  1. 01

    First Contact & Spacecraft Systems

  2. 02

    Sensors, Telemetry & Data Quality

  3. 03

    Electrical Power & Energy Management

  4. 04

    Attitude, Motion & Reaction Wheels

  5. 05

    Feedback, Estimation & Control

  6. 06

    Communications & Ground Link

  7. 07

    Orbit, Ground Track & Contact Planning

  8. 08

    Payload / Imaging / Mission Data

  9. 09

    Thermal & Environmental Constraints

  10. 10

    Faults, Diagnosis & Recovery

  11. 11

    Integrated Mission Operations

  12. 12

    Model-versus-Hardware Verification / Capstone

15 mapped experiences

All fifteen experiments exist in the frozen academic catalogue. Thirteen runnable pilot missions cover fourteen experiments; MLX-12 is clearly mapped but does not yet have a lesson.

  • MLX-01

    Deployment to First Contact

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-02

    Read the Spacecraft

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-03

    Power the Mission

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-04

    Command the Spacecraft Attitude

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-05

    Stabilise the Spacecraft

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-06

    Establish and Protect the Link

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-07

    Find the Next Pass

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-08

    Plan the Payload Observation

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-09

    Survive the Environment

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-10

    Configure the Spacecraft

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-11

    Diagnose and Recover the Mission

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-12

    Operate the Mission End to End

    Mapped, lesson unavailable

  • MLX-13

    Write a Safe Mission Policy

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-14

    Prove the Model Against Evidence

    Pilot lesson

  • MLX-15

    Attitude Changes How Much Sunlight Becomes Energy

    Pilot lesson

Advanced / existing workspaces

Earlier engineering workbenches remain available and unchanged. They are not the school-facing flagship story.