the cubesat STANDARD

The CubeSat standard was created by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Stanford University's Space Systems Development Lab in 1999 to facilitate access to space for university students. Since then the standard has been adopted by hundreds of organizations worldwide. CubeSat developers include not only universities and educational institutions, but also private firms and government organizations.

The CubeSat standard facilitates frequent and affordable access to space with launch opportunities available on most launch vehicles.

 

cal poly cubesat laboratory

CPCL Organization

The Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory (CPCL) is a multidisciplinary independent research lab. CPCL is the CubeSat development team of Cal Poly, an originator and leader for launches in the CubeSat community. The team consists of staff and students majoring in Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Aerospace, Materials, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, as well as Physics, Business, Journalism and Graphic Design. CPCL has given Cal Poly students a robust learn-by-doing experience for almost two decades, supporting students to be day-one ready professionals.

Student involvement in CPCL projects is key to all activities. Cal Poly students have developed and launched twelve spacecraft since the start of the program, with multiple more in various stages of development.

CPCL was an early leader in the CubeSat industry and since then has strived to develop a diverse knowledge base in all aspects of the small satellite ecosystem. CPCL has used that know-how to develop future generations of engineers, while developing successful working partnerships with a variety of community contributors. We look forward to continuing this role in the industry and further expanding the boundaries of space education and exploration.

 

CPCL At a Glance

  • Laboratory created in 1999

  • CubeSat standard established in 2004

  • $25+ million in sponsored projects

  • 1,000+ students trained from all colleges

  • 12 in-house developed and launched CubeSats

  • 175+ CubeSat missions supported

 

Best Practices

Cal Poly is developing a program that will provide CubeSat developers with the knowledge and experience gained from the many missions Cal Poly has been a part of. The lessons learned from those missions will be used to develop educational materials that will help developers avoid common pitfalls that have sunk previous missions. The goal is to increase success rates for all CubeSat programs across the board. The Best Practices program will begin by creating a database of gathered knowledge as an easily searchable reference. Cal Poly is also putting together a training program that will teach developers all aspects of CubeSat design, testing, program organization, licensing, and more. Trainings can be geared for experience levels ranging from beginner to novice.

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