CubeSat 3U
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.
Turn it in 3D
Open the 3D viewer (www.spaceradar.ai).
The viewer loads when you ask: about 700 kB the first time (three.js and the model), much less after.
Pictures 4
Three-quarter view
From the side
From behind
From above
About this model
CubeSat 3U is one of the 203 3D models Space Radar made itself: a satellite, built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh.
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified. It has 908 triangles in a 19 kB glTF file, and is 0.3 m across at full scale.
It is part of the map’s library; no object on the live map is drawn with it today.
Dimensions and their sources
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Body x | 0.1 m |
| Body y | 0.1 m |
| Body z | 0.3405 m |
| Rail width | 0.0085 m |
CubeSat Design Specification rev. 14.1 (cubesat.org, 2022-02-09): the body is 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.3405 m with rails at least 8.5 mm wide, as read on 2026-10-08 (the comment above buildCubeSat in site/js/scene/models.js) and checked on 2026-11-07 against the cubesat-specs package page (12U 226.3 x 226.3 x 366 mm). WHAT THE STANDARD DOES NOT FIX, AND IS OURS: the two 40 x 80 mm cells a unit on each long face, the end plates' fittings (an aperture with a baffle, a patch antenna, a sun sensor on the +Z end; a separation switch, a remove-before-flight socket and an access port on the -Z end), the whip antenna. (read 2026-11-07)
How it was made
Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from the CubeSat Design Specification's sizes; wings read off a NASA flight photograph (public domain), looked at only.
The full record
built by this project in code (tools/cubesat-builder/cube.py on the part library of tools/stage-builder/lib.py); NASA 3D Resources' 'CubeSat - 1 RU Generic' and '2 RU Generic' were asked for in 2026-10 and are not in the repository's list of shipped models; no image-to-3D model was used and no published mesh
Where the map uses it. the 133 catalogued CubeSats that McDowell's GCAT names as 3U with no deployed panels (registry/cubesats.yaml, one row each with its JCAT number); a generic FORM, not one craft's own parts: the route is `generic`, and the card says so. forge #118
Licence note. The numbers are the CubeSat standard's (facts) and McDowell's GCAT (CC BY 4.0); the shape is this project's, under this repository's licence. The photographs named under `references` are public domain (NASA), LOOKED AT ONLY. NO LOGO AND NO LETTERING is on the mesh.
References 4
What the shape was compared with. None of these pictures is in the file.
- CubeSat Design Specification rev. 14.1 (cubesat.org); the cubesat-specs form-factor table (PyPI)The CubeSat Program, Cal Poly SLOthe standard's numbers are facts; the package page states them (read 2026-11-07), nothing is copied
- General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (GCAT), satcat.tsv of 2026-11-06Jonathan C. McDowellCC BY 4.0 (the catalogue's own statement)
- ISS-49 CubeSat deploying.jpg (NASA / Kate Rubins)NASA / Kate RubinsPublic domain (NASA; Commons LicenseShortName, read 2026-11-07)
- Two Cubesats from Planet Labs.jpg (Expedition 38 crew, NASA) and ISS-47 CubeSat deployment - Dove satellites (3).jpg (NASA)NASAPublic domain (NASA; Commons LicenseShortName, read 2026-11-07)
Use it
The model is under the MIT licence: use it, change it and share it, in any project, also a paid one. Keep the credit:
CubeSat 3U 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT LicenseAny glTF 2.0 loader that reads meshopt compression (EXT_meshopt_compression) opens the file: three.js with its MeshoptDecoder, Babylon.js, model-viewer. Tools such as glTF-Transform can write an uncompressed copy.
Or embed the viewer in your page:
<iframe src="https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=cubesat-3u" title="CubeSat 3U, 3D model by Space Radar" width="600" height="450" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:100%"></iframe>Related models
CubeSat 12U with wings
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.