Have you ever dreamed of implementing your own CubeSat mission but did not know where to start? Have you imagined being part of a mission that will operate a CubeSat in orbit?
ESA’s Education Office is inviting university students to apply for the CubeSat Hands-On Training Week. This event offers a unique opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in spacecraft hardware and software. The CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2025 will be held from the 26 to 30 of May at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in ESEC-Galaxia, Transinne, Belgium.
This training week is a unique opportunity for university students to get hands-on experience with CubeSats and to apply theoretical knowledge obtained from classroom lectures. Working in pairs, students will have the opportunity to conduct experiments on Educational Satellites (ESAT) and learn how subsystems work and interact with each other. These are 10cm x 10cm x 10cm models (similar to a 1U CubeSat) developed by Theia Space, with the specific aim of providing university students with practical experience. They will also discover how to conduct Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV), and how to handle tests using real hardware. The aim of the training week is to help students with innovative ideas for educational CubeSat missions, or those working on CubeSat projects at a conceptual or preliminary stage. As a result, students will be able to incorporate the new knowledge gained from the training week into the early design phase of their CubeSat projects.
The focus throughout the Training Week will be on hands-on learning with ‘’lab sessions’’ supervised by staff from Theia Space, which will be complemented by lectures on the various fields of CubeSat subsystems, testing and operations, delivered by ESA experts. As such, this training week is an ideal opportunity for students to become familiar with the Fly Your Satellite! programme.
Before coming to ESEC-Galaxia, the selected students will be required to perform some preliminary activities (reading material and exercises) for a duration of no more than 5 hours to better prepare for this Training Week. A Q/A session with the experts will be scheduled the week before the Training to solve any doubt the students might have about the content of the preparatory material.
Preliminary Schedule
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Day 1 |
Welcome and Introduction |
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Day 2 |
Software – Lecture & Lab Session |
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Day 3 |
On-Board Data Handling (OBDH) – Lab Session |
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Day 4 |
AIV & Testing – Lab Session |
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Day 5 |
Spacecraft Operations – Lecture & Lab Session |
Who can apply?
In order to participate, students must fulfil the following eligibility criteria at the time of application:
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aged minimum of 18 years old. ESA Academy and relevant partners will only appraise applications from students who have no or limited professional experience in relevant scientific, engineering or other space-related topics;
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be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Canada*, Latvia, Lithuania, or Slovakia;
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be enrolled as a Bachelor, Master, or PhD student in a university for the academic year 2024-2025 (even if graduating before the Training Week);
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be studying an Engineering or Scientific subject (with good knowledge in space technology).
* Canadian students enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution may apply for additional support from the Canadian Space Agency through this Announcement of Opportunity (grant applications must be submitted at least 7 weeks before the course delivery and account creation 3 weeks before the deadline). This additional support is to cover costs that are not already covered by ESA for selected Canadian post-secondary students.
Selected students will be requested to attend the entire 5-day training week at ESEC-Galaxia. They will be sponsored by ESA to cover accommodation and meals, as well as up to 350 Euros for travelling to and from Belgium.
Students will be evaluated on their group work throughout the Training Week. Upon completion students will receive a certificate and course transcript, allowing them to request ECTS credits from their respective universities.
How to apply?
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Fill in the application form;
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Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no image);
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Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, maximum 2 pages, no image);
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Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no image) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university (if it is not possible to receive the recommendation letter from your referee, please ask them to send a recommendation email to academy.training@esa.int before the application deadline);
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Upload a copy of your Transcript of Grades from the two previous semesters, or, if not available, the previous graded academic year (PDF).
All answers and documents should be in English (Transcript of Grades can be submitted in language of hosting university, if unavailable in English).
The deadline for applications to participate in the CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2025 is 3 March 2025, 23:59 CET.
The selection announcement will be on 31 March 2025.
For more information, please contact academy.training@esa.int.