The University of Southern Maine CubeSat Design Challenge (UCDC 2027), in collaboration with NASA, the Maine Space Grant Consortium, and the UMaine High-Altitude Ballooning Club, is pleased to accept registrations from teams of grade 6-12 students across Maine to design, build and operate a CubeSat capable of meeting one of our five mission challenges. Teams that successfully achieve the challenge goal will be awarded a trophy and distinction on our website’s hall of fame. New in 2027, we are also introducing the “best in class” award for teams that choose to submit a design notebook and have their CubeSat inspected by a team of judges.

The CubeSat challenges are designed to push student teams to collaboratively perform complex engineering tasks, spur creativity, and gain valuable experience to accelerate their young engineering careers. The UCDC 2027 program aims to reach ALL Maine students in grades 6-12 – at any level of educational preparedness.

Image of 5 CubeSat assembled in a payload chain and suspended from a hydrogen balloon at 100,000 feet above the Earth. The payloads are shown with a background of the space horizon and the glowing Earth.

The challenges will:

  • Engage students in STEM experiential learning and consider future careers within the space industry
  • Increase student confidence in STEM through problem solving within a real space mission experience
  • Allow students to develop soft career skills, such as teamwork, leadership and project management
  • Help build interest and technological skills in Maine’s future space industry workforce

>>>>Click Here for Free Team Registration<<<<

CHALLENGE DETAILS

UCDC 2027 challenges are designed around science or technology missions motivated by common to space exploration challenges. The challenges are distributed across five mission categories. Teams must choose a single category to compete in. Teams will need to meet, or exceed, the success criteria specified under that challenge category while also meeting the specific engineering constraints detailed below.

Engineering Constraints

Each CubeSat, regardless of challenge category, must be designed to meet the following basic mission requirements.

  • Must meet 1U CubeSat form factor (10cm X 10cm X 10cm outside dimensions)
  • Must weigh less than 300 grams (0.66 lbs.)
  • Must survive a vibration frequency sweep on USM’s shaker table or a fall from 3 ft
  • Must be constructed for less than $150 (challenge required hardware not counted)
  • Must have 4 external anchors points on the CubeSat (for ballooning flight)

Challenge Categories

Home Is Where the Pod Is

Objective Statement

Send crickets to 100,000+ feet and return them safely to earth

Mission profile

Keeping living specimens alive during space travel is an important technology for the long-term space exploration and/or habitation of other celestial bodies. In this mission, teams must develop environmental controls to ensure live specimens, crickets, survive the space environment for a flight lasting approximately 4 hours at an altitude up to 112,000 feet. Considerations include thermal control, atmospheric pressure, oxygen levels and short-term radiation exposure mitigation.

Mission Success Criteria

In this mission, teams are tasked with creating a cricket survival pod capable of withstanding the harshness of a high-altitude ballooning mission at an altitude of 100,000+ feet for a period of 4 hours. The survival pod should be large enough to contain 3 crickets, fit within the 1U CubeSat form factor, and meet the weight requirements. The successful missions will create a vacuum seal and maintain cricket health for over 4 hours during the ballooning mission. A minimum of 2 of the 3 crickets must be safely returned to Earth as evidenced at the CubeSat recovery stage of the mission. The CubeSat recovery team will take photos of crickets upon recovery to verify survival rates.

Required Mission Materials List

¾” Live Crickets (or similar)

Resource Links

Terrarium Substrate Guide

Terrarium Container Guide

Cricket Keeper Mission

SnapSat Quest

Objective Statement

Develop a CubeSat imaging system capable of taking 1 picture every minute during flight.

Mission profile

Imaging technology is routinely deployed in space missions to track cloud cover and weather patterns, aid celestial navigation, observe Earth land changes and much more. The use of a camera, however, brings many challenges including optics, positioning and pointing, hardware mounting, and data storage. This mission challenges teams to develop a camera system capable of taking pictures of the near-space environment during a high-altitude ballon flight and store the data to a local hardware memory.

Mission Success Criteria

Teams will develop and operate a camera imaging system capable of capturing images during high-altitude balloon flight. The camera system must capture at least 1 image per minute over a 4-hour flight with images exposing the near-space environment. Images must be stored to an onboard microSD data storage as time-stamped files documenting the duration between images. The CubeSat recovery team will remove the microSD card and acquire the stored images to assess challenge success.

Resource Links

Timelapse Arduino Project

Arducam Timelapse Project

Maple Mayhem

Objective Statement

Develop a release mechanism to disperse native maple seeds during flight.

Mission profile

Robotic mechanisms are a critical technology used in space missions. Robotics enable inspection, manipulation of hardware components and triggering of events within spacecraft to ensure mission success. In this mission, teams will be tasked with developing a robotic mechanism that will release native maple seeds during flight. A successful mechanism will store the seeds during the launch phase of the mission and then safely disperse the seeds during flight. 

Mission Success Criteria

The CubeSat will have the capacity to store 10 native maple seeds in a protective compartment for the launch phase of the mission. A mechanism must be constructed which will release the seeds during flight. The CubeSat recovery team will take photos of the CubeSat upon recovery and verify the remaining number of seeds.  The successful teams will have fewer than 2 seeds in their CubeSats at the time of recovery.

Required Mission Materials List

Native Sugar maple Seeds (or similar)

Resource Links

Hatch Shutter for CubeSats

Demonstration of various door mechanisms using Lego robotics

We Came, We Saw, We Measured

Objective Statement

Develop a remote sensing system to monitor the near-space environment during a high-altitude balloon flight.

Mission profile

Most scientific satellite missions employ some form of remote sensing payload to monitor environmental conditions. Whether it is to measure the radiation intensity around Jupiter, or the electromagnetic field of the Earth, satellites use remote sensing systems to acquire information about their surroundings or to make scientific discoveries. In this CubeSat mission, teams are challenged to develop a remote sensing system capable of acquiring data from a minimum of three sensors as a function of time during a high-altitude balloon flight. Sensors may be digital or analog or a combination of both and may include environmental sensors (e.g. temperature, pressure, gas composition, etc.) or position sensors (e.g. GPS, accelerometers, etc.).

Mission Success Criteria

The remote sensing package must be enclosed in the 1U CubeSat and acquire data at a rate of at least 1 sample per minute for over 1 hour of flight. The data must be stored to a microSD device as a single data file. The data file should be organized as a table with either comma or table delineation separating the columns and carriage returns separating the rows. Each row in the data table should contain a timestamp or elapsed time counter.  The data table should also contain a header specifying the name and units associated with each column. The successful mission will validate the collection of flight data at the conclusion of the mission. The CubeSat recovery team will access the microSD memory card and download the data file.

Recommended Sensor List

Seeed Studio Grove Sensors

Sparkfun QWIIC Sensors

Resource Links

Quick Start Grove Tutorial

Air Quality Test Box

Sparkfun Environmental Sensing Project

The sky’s the limit!

Objective Statement

Define your own mission that clearly addresses a technical or scientific question not otherwise addressed in the other categories. Your team must develop an objective statement that will be submitted and approved by a team of judges.

Mission profile

Teams will develop a CubeSat mission of their own design and define their own criteria for mission success. This more advanced challenge category is ideal for teams with prior CubeSat experience and want to expand their learning. The proposed CubeSat must still meet the engineering constraints set forth by the CubeSat Challenge, but include additional engineering constraints specific to the proposed mission. The engineering constraints will be developed, listed and presented to a team of judges for approval to ensure adherence to the challenge rule and are achievable within the cost and time duration of the challenge format.

 Mission Success Criteria

The mission success criteria must be developed, listed and justified by the design team to a panel of judges who will approve or request edits. Multiple success criteria are expected to be developed and categorized as either a “minimum success benchmark” or “advanced success benchmark”. To be a successful mission, the CubeSat must demonstrate the minimum success benchmark during flight.

Registration and Team Specifications

Registration

Entry into the CubeSat Challenge is free to all participants. Each team must register following the instructions and forms outlined below. Open registration closes December 11th, 2026. The challenge will be limited to a total of 24 teams due to high-altitude ballooning ride share restrictions. Teams will be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional registrations will be accepted, but overflow teams will be waitlisted as alternates for the balloon flight in May.

Each registered team will receive the following:

  • Enrollment into a USM CubeSat development virtual course providing instructions into the design and operation of CubeSats. The course will cover topics such as computer-aided design, Arduino programming, wiring basics and mission planning.
  • A basic CubeSat development kit (~$120 value)
  • An assigned USM mentor to provide technical resources and guidance on the project.
  • A commemorative USM CubeSat challenge tee-shirt.

To register and receive your CubeSat starter kit: Complete the online registration form at the top of this page.

Team Specifications

Teams must consist of at least one student and one teacher (or parent) from their respective educational institutions. The teacher (or parent) must have the support of the educational institution for organizing in-school / afterschool activities and in-State travel. There are no limits on maximum team size. Each school can have more than one team. Teams may work with external consultants on any aspects of their design. All contributing team members should be credited on the team roster, which is submitted with the project.

Challenge Process

Beginning the Challenge

Teams may begin working on their CubeSat designs directly after registration in the program. Teams will receive the basic CubeSat kit specified in their challenge category by January 15th. Teams may request additional CubeSat hardware and components for purchase using the forms provided after registration. The University of Southern Maine will purchase all hardware and components and mail the components to the registration address provided. All costs will be tracked by the USM team to verify that overall CubeSat costs are within $150/CubeSat.

Pre-Flight Qualifications

All CubeSats must be pre-qualified for flight on the high-altitude balloon to complete the challenge. Qualifications will be completed on the fully-assembled CubeSats by the University of Southern Maine staff during the week of May 17th. Teams may travel to USM to complete the qualification testing, or request a visit at your school location. Pre-flight qualifications include visual inspections, form factor verifications, vibration testing qualifications, weight verifications and CubeSat operation verifications according to challenge guidelines detailed at the top of the page.

Challenge Flight Details

The CubeSat Challenge high-altitude balloon flight is scheduled for Saturday, May 22nd with a rain date of Sunday, May 23rd. The flight location will be determined based on weather conditions, but typically occurs on the campus of the University of Maine at Farmington. At least one team representative is required to attend the flight to ensure proper CubeSat startup and launch. The University of Southern Maine staff will track the payloads during flight and recover flight hardware.

Challenge Assessment

Teams will be assessed using two sets of criteria.

  • Pass/Fail – Each CubeSat must meet the engineering constraints and achieve the minimal mission objectives for their specific challenge. Those that successfully complete the mission will Pass the challenge and be awarded a trophy.
  • Best in Class – A team may elect to also compete for the Best in Class award. To do so, the CubeSat must meet the engineering constraints and achieve the minimal mission objectives; but have the added requirement of submitting an engineering design notebook detailing their work. Details of the notebook format will be provided upon registration.The recovery team will assess the state of the hardware and take pictures of the CubeSats as recovered after launch. Depending on the nature of the challenge, the USM team may also remove data storage cards and review flight data. Based on the evidence, the USM judges will determine each team’s achievement within their respective challenge. Teams deemed successful in the challenge will be provided a trophy and place on the USM CubeSat challenge “Wall of Fame”.

The challenge assessments will be completed by USM staff at the recovery site. They will assess the state of the hardware and take pictures of the CubeSats as recovered after launch. Depending on the nature of the challenge, the USM team may also inspect live organisms or remove data storage cards and review flight data. Based on the evidence, the USM judges will determine each team’s achievement within their respective challenge. Teams deemed successful in the challenge will be provided a trophy and placed on the USM CubeSat challenge “Wall of Fame”.

All questions regarding the 2027 USM CubeSat Challenge can be directed to scott.eaton@maine.edu or kendra.hansen@maine.edu