Curious about CubeSats? Join the CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2026
Have you ever dreamed of implementing your own CubeSat mission but did not know where to start? Have you ever imagined being part of a mission operating a CubeSat in orbit?
ESA’s Education Office is inviting university students to apply for the CubeSat Hands-On Training Week 2026. This event offers a rare chance to strengthen both theoretical understanding and practical skills related to spacecraft hardware and software. The Training Week will be held from 8 to 12 June at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in ESEC-Galaxia, Transinne, Belgium.
This training week is a unique opportunity for university students to gain practical experience with CubeSats and to apply the theoretical concepts they have learnt in academic courses.
Working in pairs, students will have the opportunity to experiment with the Educational Satellite (ESAT), a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm model similar to a 1U CubeSat developed by Theia Space, with the specific aim of providing university students with practical experience. They will learn how different subsystems work and interact with each other, discover how to conduct Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV), and how to handle tests using real hardware.
The goal is to support students in developing innovative ideas for educational CubeSat missions or working on CubeSat projects in their early conceptual or preliminary stage. By the end of the training, participants will be able to apply the new knowledge to the initial design phases of their own CubeSat initiatives.
The focus throughout the Training Week will be on hands-on learning with ‘’lab sessions’’ supervised by staff from Theia Space, which will be preceded by lectures covering the various fields of CubeSat subsystems, testing and operations, delivered by ESA experts. As such, this training week is an ideal introduction to the Fly Your Satellite! programme.
This edition of the course will include 15 participants from Africa, selected as part of the broader African Union–European Union strategic partnership. AfSA and ESA are jointly leading the Space Partnership Programme (SPP), which supports both upstream (technology, satellite manufacturing) and downstream (applications, data services) sectors. The programme includes interconnected components focusing on industrial cooperation and private sector development, academic and research collaboration, and policy dialogue and institutional capacity-building. The SPP is guided by three specific objectives:
- Enhance the African institutional and innovation space cooperation framework, including gender-sensitive outreach on the benefits of space;
- Enhance the capacity to produce and deliver space-based services and applications, data and information, for early warning systems related to hazardous weather or climate events;
- Strengthen the African space private sector ecosystem and industrial cooperation.
Before arriving at ESEC-Galaxia, the selected students will be asked to complete up to 5 hours of preparatory work, including reading material and exercises, to better prepare for this Training Week. A Q/A session with the experts will be scheduled the week before the Training to resolve any doubts the students might have about the content of the preparatory material.
Preliminary schedule
| Day 1 |
Welcome and introduction Fly Your Satellite! Programme and System Engineering principles - lecture Introduction to ESAT model - Lab Session Electrical Power System (EPS) - Lecture & Lab Session |
| Day 2 |
Software – Lecture & lab session On-Board Data Handling (OBDH) - lecture |
| Day 3 |
On-Board Data Handling (OBDH) - Lab session Attitude Determination Control System (ADCS) - Lecture Assembly, Integration and Verification (AIV) & Testing – Lecture |
| Day 4 |
ADCS – Lab session AIV & Testing – Lab session Spacecraft Communications – Lecture & lab session |
| Day 5 |
Spacecraft Operations - Lecture & lab session Conclusion |
Who can apply?
To participate, students must fulfil the following criteria:
- 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;
- be a citizen of an ESA Member State, Associate Members, or Canada*;
- be enrolled as a university student for the academic year 2025-2026 in a Bachelor (i.e., BSc or equivalent), Master (i.e., MSc or equivalent), or Doctoral (i.e., PhD or equivalent) degree programme;
- 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 event start date – create an account as soon as possible!). 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?
- Fill in the application form via our platform ESA Learn;
- Upload a motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no image);
- Upload a CV (PDF, Europass format, maximum 2 pages, no image);
- Upload a formal recommendation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no image) from a university professor or academic supervisor of the 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);
- 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 2026 is 15 February 2026, 23:55 CET.
The selection announcement will be on 1 March 2026.
For more information, please contact academy.training@esa.int.