Cubes in Space

The Only Global STEM Program for Students 11-18 years of Age
Providing Two Suborbital Flight Opportunities on NASA Missions.

Cubes in Space^TM, a program by iEDU, provides students access to space to design and test experiments on NASA missions.

Big Science in Little Cubes

Science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) knowledge and skills are seamlessly combined and applied in the design of these incredibly small experiments. Students use their imaginations and critical thinking skills to design experiments and research that connect to real world space or Earth-based problems.

Watch our Cubes in Space video

Watch the New England Sci-Tech Center video

Students LOVE Cubes in Space!

If you want to see authentic learning and
STEM in ACTION, check out this awesome video from New England SciTech describing their students' experiences with our program!

Since Cubes in Space began in 2014, we have flown over 1,100 experiments representing 2,400+ educators and 23,000 students from 75 countries!

Cubes in Space is offered in collaboration with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility, NASA's Langley Research Center
and Science Systems and Application Inc. (SSAI).

Program Registration Closes

ATTENTION CUBES IN SPACE REGISTRANTS!!
We do NOT fly cubesats, nanosats or any other small satellites. This program is for non-university students to conduct scientific research. We will NOT select any "world's smallest satellite" or small-sat themed experiments or concepts for flight.

LEARN ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Educators are invited to join us to bring space to students for scientific exploration, research and technology development. If you are a formal, informal, homeschool or non-formal educator, you can bring the Cubes in Space program to your student(s).

Educators register for the program and deliver the course to the students 11-18 years of age that are not attending a university or college. Students learn and design experiments or technologies that connect to a real-world Earth or space-based problem or need. Experiments are proposed through the Application for Spaceflight that educators submit on the students' behalf. If selected, experiments are launched from a NASA facility in summer 2023 and returned to students.

For the selected experiments, educators receive the plastic payload cubes that house the experiments. Post-flight, the experiments are returned for students to conduct (further) testing and analysis.

Experiments are launched on NASA suborbital flights.

Sounding Rocket

80 experiments launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility
June 2023

Scientific Balloon

120 experiments launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
Late summer 2023

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"I appreciate that you continued to offer this in the midst of a global pandemic that shut down so many other opportunities. This [was] a bright spot in a dark year for both my students and me. Over the years of facilitating Cubes in Space, I've seen this experience spark a love of science, space, and NASA in my students. It is something that they talk about long after they have completed their experiment."

Sara Torchia, Bear Creek School, Pennsylvania

"The Cubes in Space Program allows all students, regardless of the socio-economic status, race or gender, to experience what it is like to take part in real-world science. Students brainstorm, design, create and test their own experiments that actually go to space. This rare opportunity has benefitted my students immensely and has inspired their future STEM careers."

Ashlie Smith, Cranbrook Middle School for Girls, Michigan

"So incredibly grateful for the opportunity for my students to think and participate in experimental design with the Cubes in Space program. The curriculum and support are awesome!"

Cheryl McClure, International School, Bellevue, Washington

"Not only does Cubes in Space continue to provide an outstanding STEAM program that is like no other, but the fact that they have pivoted so successfully during pandemic challenges is a testimony to their professionalism and dedication towards keeping students highly engaged with the magic of science."

Margot Solberg, Academia Cotopaxi, Ecuador

"The Cubes experience has been rewarding in that it allows for strengths and weaknesses to be identified and to help students find a way to build self confidence needed for real world challenges."

Dale Dycus, Parent, Wisconsin

"Cubes in Space opened a door full of opportunities for my students. One in which they can explore, investigate, experiment, and challenge themselves in a possible and realistic way. Space is closer than ever thanks to CiS!"

Aymette Medina, Navigator Academy, Florida

MORE OPPORTUNITIES

Engineering will be demystified when students learn to build and test flight hardware, write simple software code, and collect environmental data on the Cubes in Space RB-8 mission in summer of 2023. Throughout this course, students gain an authentic learning experience to discover how engineering skills and design principles enable scientific space exploration and research. Educators facilitate and guide students to gain technology development knowledge and skills using new content modules developed and ION+ Kits. Coming early spring 2023.

Every space mission has a patch that communicates the goals of the mission or program. And Cubes in Space is no different! Students use their imagination, creativity and science communication skills to design a patch for the SR-9 and/or RB-8 missions. We turn the winning designs into high quality decals, fly them on the missions, and give students their patch that flew in space!

Learn More

It’s finally back! Let’s get together to celebrate the students’ working together to fly their experiments into space - during a global pandemic! Held each June in Chincoteague, Virginia, home of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, students, educators and their families can join in the fun of this four-day conference culminating with the NASA RockSat-C/Cubes in Space SR-9 launch. Tours, guest speakers, geeky space activities, a big old barbeque, and student presentations are just some of the fun we have planned! Students with experiments on 2021-2023 sounding rocket or balloon missions are eligible to participate. 19-22 June 2023 Registration and tickets available January 2023.

Learn directly from the Founder of Cubes in Space! This course introduces students to aerospace science and engineering design processes essential for conducting research and designing experiments to fly on a real NASA mission to space in the summer of 2023. By the end of the course, students will design their experiment and complete their Application for Spaceflight. Coming Spring 2023!

Want to learn about the Cubes in Space program and how to deliver it to your students? Then join us for a 2-day, onsite workshop in Hampton, Virginia. This workshop provides a program overview, instruction on how to facilitate the program, curriculum and resources, seminars on the launch and flight conditions, hands-on project-based learning activities and much more!

Learn More

The Only Global STEM Program for Students 11-18 years of Age Providing Two Suborbital Flight Opportunities on NASA Missions.

Cubes in SpaceTM, a program by iEDU, provides students access to space to design and test experiments on NASA missions.

Big Science in Little Cubes

Students LOVE Cubes in Space!

If you want to see authentic learning and STEM in ACTION, check out this awesome video from New England SciTech describing their students' experiences with our program!

Since Cubes in Space began in 2014, we have flown over 1,100 experiments representing 2,400+ educators and 23,000 students from 75 countries!

Cubes in Space is offered in collaboration with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility, NASA's Langley Research Center and Science Systems and Application Inc. (SSAI).

Program Registration Closes

ATTENTION CUBES IN SPACE REGISTRANTS!! We do NOT fly cubesats, nanosats or any other small satellites. This program is for non-university students to conduct scientific research. We will NOT select any "world's smallest satellite" or small-sat themed experiments or concepts for flight.

LEARN ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Educators are invited to join us to bring space to students for scientific exploration, research and technology development. If you are a formal, informal, homeschool or non-formal educator, you can bring the Cubes in Space program to your student(s).

For the selected experiments, educators receive the plastic payload cubes that house the experiments. Post-flight, the experiments are returned for students to conduct (further) testing and analysis.

Experiments are launched on NASA suborbital flights.

Sounding Rocket

80 experiments launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility June 2023

Scientific Balloon

120 experiments launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility Late summer 2023

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

1. Register

2. Log In

3. Get Started

4. Facilitate

5. Apply for Flight

6. Application Review

7. Notification

8. Cubes Shipped

9. Build Experiment

10. Launch!

11. Cubes Returned

12. Analysis & Report