How to Build and Launch a CubeSat from the US, Steps, Permits and Costs in 2026
To build and launch a CubeSat from the United States, you design a satellite to the Cal Poly CubeSat Design Specification, test it, get a radio license from the FCC, file a debris assessment, get a NOAA license if it carries a camera that images Earth, and book a launch slot. SpaceX’s own rideshare tool quoted $350,000 for a 50 kg slot to sun-synchronous orbit on 6 November 2026. NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative offers free launches to US schools and nonprofits.
The film How to put a CubeSat in orbit, explained shows the nine steps in two and a half minutes, with a real signal from the AO-91 CubeSat recorded by a SatNOGS station in Japan.
This guide maps the full path in nine steps, from the first idea to the first signal from orbit. Each step names the agency or standard that controls it and the primary document to read. Parts two to ten of this series take one step each and go deeper, and the CubeSat guide lists every part in order. The series is a neutral guide. The Consciousness AI does not build or launch a satellite.
The licensing part changed in 2026. On 22 July 2026 the FCC adopted a new Part 100 that replaces the Part 25 satellite rules and removes the “streamlined small satellite” process that most older CubeSat guides still describe.
The nine steps at a glance
| Step | What you do | Who controls it | Primary document |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choose the mission and the orbit | You, then the launch provider | SpaceX Rideshare Payload User’s Guide |
| 2 | Design the hardware to the CubeSat standard | Cal Poly CubeSat Program, the dispenser maker | CubeSat Design Specification Rev 14.1 |
| 3 | Write the flight software | You | NASA F Prime or NASA cFS documentation |
| 4 | Test for launch and space | Launch provider test levels | CDS Rev 14.1 test section, NASA GEVS |
| 5 | Get a radio license | FCC (and IARU for amateur bands) | FCC 26-47 (Part 100), 47 CFR Part 5 and Part 97 |
| 6 | File the other US approvals | NOAA, NASA debris tools, US Space Force | 15 CFR Part 960, NASA DAS |
| 7 | Book a launch | SpaceX, integrators, NASA CSLI | SpaceX rideshare booking tool |
| 8 | Set up a ground station | You, ground station networks | SatNOGS, commercial networks |
| 9 | Budget and schedule | You | Checked line items from steps 1 to 8 |
Step 1. Choose the mission and the orbit
The mission sets the orbit, and the orbit sets almost everything else, from the power budget to how long the satellite stays up. Most CubeSats fly in low Earth orbit. SpaceX sells two kinds of rideshare. Its Transporter flights go to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), and its rideshare page states that SSO missions fly “approximately every 4 months”, with frequent launches to mid-inclination orbits.
Altitude also decides when the satellite falls back. In September 2022 the FCC adopted a rule (FCC 22-74) that requires satellites in low Earth orbit to leave orbit within 5 years after the end of the mission, in place of the old 25 year guideline. The rule applies from 29 September 2024. A low orbit makes this rule easy to meet, because air drag brings the satellite down without a thruster.
Step 2. Design the hardware to the CubeSat standard
The CubeSat began in 1999 as a joint project of Jordi Puig-Suari at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and Bob Twiggs at Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Laboratory. The current standard is the CubeSat Design Specification Rev 14.1, published by the Cal Poly CubeSat Program in February 2022. It defines a 1U CubeSat as “a 10 cm cube with a mass of up to 2 kg” and covers sizes from 1U to 12U.
| Size | Typical maximum mass in CDS Rev 14.1 |
|---|---|
| 1U | 2.00 kg |
| 2U | 4.00 kg |
| 3U | 6.00 kg |
| 6U | 12.00 kg |
| 12U | 24.00 kg |
The specification notes that heavier satellites can be judged mission by mission with the dispenser maker. It also sets rules that a first-time builder can miss. The structure should be aluminum alloy. The power system must stay off from delivery to the launch vehicle until deployment in orbit. At least one deployment switch must cut power while the satellite sits in the dispenser.
Inside the box, a CubeSat bus has six subsystems. They are power, attitude determination and control, communications, the onboard computer, structure and thermal control. Most teams now buy some of these as commercial off-the-shelf parts. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute publishes a yearly State of the Art report that lists these parts with their technology readiness levels.
A desk model is the cheapest way to learn the subsystems before you spend money on flight parts. The AMSAT CubeSat Simulator is a working 1U model with solar panels, sensors and a radio beacon. It is the CubeSat on a desk kit on our hardware kits page.
Step 3. Write the flight software
Flight software receives commands, sends telemetry, runs the payload and puts the satellite in a safe mode when something fails. Two open frameworks from NASA are common starting points, F Prime from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the core Flight System (cFS) from Goddard. Part 4 of this series compares them and looks at the onboard computers and FPGAs they run on.
Step 4. Test for launch and space
A satellite must survive the shaking of the launch and the vacuum and temperature swings of orbit. The launch provider sets the test levels. SpaceX’s rideshare page points to its Payload User’s Guide for the technical requirements. The CubeSat Design Specification sets minimum testing requirements of its own and refers to NASA Goddard’s General Environmental Verification Standard (GEVS). Part 5 covers the tests, what they cost and where teams rent test time.
Step 5. Get a radio license from the FCC
Every satellite that transmits needs a license for its radio frequencies, and in the United States that license comes from the FCC. There are three common paths. An experimental license under 47 CFR Part 5 fits a short technology demonstration. An amateur license under Part 97 fits an educational satellite in the amateur bands, with frequency coordination through the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and no commercial use. A commercial satellite needs a full space station license.
The commercial path changed on 22 July 2026. In its Report and Order “Space Modernization for the 21st Century” (FCC 26-47, SB Docket 25-306), the FCC adopted a new Part 100, “Space and Earth Station Services”, and stated that it “will sunset part 25 once part 100 becomes effective.” In paragraph 103 the Commission eliminated “the streamlined small satellite and small spacecraft authorization processes” of sections 25.122 and 25.123. Those processes had limited a license to 180 kg per satellite (500 kg for small spacecraft), at most 10 satellites, and a six-year term. The FCC wrote that applications that qualified for them will get “essentially the same or similar benefits and faster processing” under Part 100.
The new rules were not yet in force when this guide was written. The Space Bureau’s transition notice of 7 October 2026 (DA 26-1080) states that the effective date will be set in a later public notice. Any cost table that still quotes the old small satellite application fee needs a new check. Part 6 of this series follows the change.
The FCC also files the international side. Satellite frequencies are coordinated through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the ITU accepts filings only from national administrations, so a US operator files through the FCC.
Step 6. File the other US approvals
Three more approvals apply to many CubeSats.
- A debris assessment. NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office publishes the Debris Assessment Software (DAS), version 3.2.7 since 10 April 2026. It checks debris generation, postmission lifetime and entry safety, and its output supports the debris statement in the FCC application.
- A remote sensing license. NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce licenses “any person(s) operating a private remote sensing system within the United States” under 15 CFR Part 960. Its page states that the completeness review takes no longer than 7 days, and asks applicants to allow up to 60 days after that to process the license. A satellite with a camera pointed at Earth should start here early.
- Tracking registration. The US Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron tracks objects in orbit and publishes their orbits through Space-Track. Operators register their satellite so it can be identified after deployment.
The satellite owner does not need an FAA license. The FAA licenses the launch, and the launch provider holds that license. Export control rules (ITAR and EAR) can also apply to satellite parts and to sharing designs with people outside the United States. Part 7 of this series covers all of these.
Step 7. Book a launch
Small satellites reach orbit as rideshare passengers. There are three routes.
- Book a slot directly with SpaceX. Its online tool sells slots on rideshare plates. A quarter plate includes 50 kg, a half plate 100 kg and a full plate 200 kg, and the maximum mass per port is 831 kg.
- Book through an integrator such as Exolaunch, which puts several CubeSats in one dispenser on a SpaceX flight and handles the paperwork with the launch provider. Integrators do not publish a list price per unit. Ask for a quote.
- Apply to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). It is open to CubeSats built by US educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, including museums and science centers. NASA’s page states that CSLI “has launched over 150 CubeSats” and that the call for proposals usually opens each August with proposals due in November. The team pays for the satellite. NASA arranges the launch.
The SpaceX tool gives the only public list price in the whole process. On 6 November 2026 it returned these estimates for sun-synchronous orbit.
| Payload mass | SpaceX estimated price |
|---|---|
| 10 kg | $0.35 million |
| 50 kg | $0.35 million |
| 100 kg | $0.7 million |
The tool charges for at least 50 kg, so a 1U or 3U CubeSat booked directly pays for a 50 kg slot. Above 50 kg the estimate rises by $7,000 per kg. Integrators group several CubeSats in one dispenser and share that slot between them. SpaceX also lets a delayed customer apply all money paid to a later flight, with a rebooking fee of 5 to 10 percent, and receives payloads at the launch site about 30 days before launch. Orbital transfer vehicles from companies such as D-Orbit, UARX and Impulse Space can move a satellite from the rideshare drop-off orbit to a different one. Part 8 compares the routes.
Step 8. Set up a ground station
After deployment the satellite starts its beacon, and someone on the ground has to hear it. Commercial networks rent antenna time by the pass. SatNOGS, run by the Libre Space Foundation, is an “open source global network of satellite ground-stations” built by volunteers, and many CubeSat teams use it to catch their first signals.
A receive station for SatNOGS can start with a USB software defined radio and a simple antenna. The satellite ground station receiver kit lists the RTL-SDR Blog parts and links the SatNOGS build guide. The weather satellite dish kit adds a small dish for images from GOES weather satellites in geostationary orbit. Both work today, years before any satellite of your own is ready. Part 9 covers ground stations in detail.
Step 9. Budget and schedule
The launch is the only cost in this list with a public price. Hardware, testing, legal work and ground station time depend on the mission and on quotes. Many published CubeSat budgets also predate the 2026 FCC change. Part 10 of this series builds the budget only from line items checked against primary sources, with the date of each check, for two cases, a 1U to 3U educational or technology mission and a 3U to 6U commercial mission.
How CubeSats connect to the study of consciousness
This project studies consciousness as an emergent property of physical systems that does not depend on one substrate. If that view is right, a mind could in principle run on hardware far from Earth, and the hard questions become physical ones. They include power budgets, radiation, heat and the delay of every signal. CubeSats are where those conditions are tested in practice today. ESA’s Phi-sat-2 runs six AI applications on a 6U CubeSat, and NASA’s TechEdSat-13 CubeSat carried the first neuromorphic processor to operate in space, which we analyse in our review of radiation hardening for a conscious architecture in orbit.
No CubeSat is conscious, and none of these missions claims to be. Their value for this research is the data they return on what computation survives in orbit. That data feeds the Consciousness to Orbit section, which tracks orbital compute against the conditions a mind would need, including Peng Hu and Kees van Berkel’s November 2026 engineering audits of heterogeneous space data centers and laser cross-link bandwidth limits. For the wider debate on how scientists define and test consciousness in machines, see our flagship report on the race to define AI consciousness.
What this guide covers and what it leaves open
The path to orbit for a US CubeSat has nine steps, and the order rarely changes. Build to the Cal Poly standard, test to the launch provider’s levels, license the radio with the FCC, file the debris assessment and any NOAA license, then book the launch and the ground station. The cheapest route for a school or nonprofit is NASA CSLI. The cheapest direct route is an integrator, because SpaceX charges at least $350,000 per slot to sun-synchronous orbit.
Two points are open on 6 November 2026. The FCC has not yet set the date when Part 100 replaces Part 25, and the new fee for a small commercial satellite license is not yet published in final form. This guide will be updated when the Space Bureau sets that date. The next parts of the series take each step in turn, starting with orbits.