CubeSat 6U with wings
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.
About this model
CubeSat 6U with wings 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 1,300 triangles in a 24 kB glTF file, and is 0.4 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 | 0.2263 m |
| Body y | 0.1 m |
| Body z | 0.366 m |
| Rail width | 0.0085 m |
| Wing out | 0.095 m |
| Panels per wing | 3 |
| Wing length | 0.351 m |
CubeSat Design Specification rev. 14.1 (cubesat.org, 2022-02-09): the body is 0.2263 x 0.1 x 0.366 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, and the deployed wings: three hinged panels a side, each 0.095 m out by 0.351 m along the body, read off the public-domain NASA photograph of a Planet Dove with its wings open (looked at only); GCAT's `Shape` says 'two panels', not their size. (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 78 catalogued CubeSats that McDowell's GCAT names as 6U with two 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 6U with wings 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-6u-wings" title="CubeSat 6U with wings, 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.