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June 19, 2025

Between June 2 and 6, 2025, the University of Victoria was proud to host a week-long series of technical reviews and knowledge-sharing workshops as part of the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) program. The event brought together student teams from the Universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Victoria for one of the most important milestones in any space mission: the Critical Design Review (CDR).

CUBICS, short for CubeSats Initiative for Businesses and Institutions in Canada, is a CSA-led initiative that enables post-secondary institutions to undertake full space missions, from concept to orbit. The program allows students and faculty to design, build, test, launch, and operate a small satellite known as a CubeSat, gaining invaluable hands-on experience with real-world engineering and space systems.

CubeSats are compact, standardized nanosatellites, typically the size of a shoebox, that can carry out a range of science, technology, and educational missions. Their low cost and modular design make them ideal platforms for both innovation and learning, and they've become key tools for space agencies, startups, and universities around the world.

The University of Victoria is one of nine teams across Canada selected to participate in the CUBICS program, with its current mission focused on the development of MarmotSat, a 3U CubeSat currently in advanced design stages. 3U refers to a type of miniaturized satellite, which occupies a volume of three "units". Each unit is a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm cube, so a 3U CubeSat typically measures 10cm x 10cm x 30cm.

Each visiting team delivered an in-depth, seven-hour CDR presentation to reviewers from the CSA and industry. These reviews are essential technical checkpoints, demonstrating that the satellite designs meet mission requirements, are feasible, and are ready to move into the Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AI&T) phase.

Adding a unique highlight to the week, UVic was honoured by a visit from Dr. David Kendall, a former Director General of the CSA and a globally respected leader in the space science community. Dr. Kendall stopped by to attend the reviews and offer advice, encouragement, and invaluable insights to the teams. His presence was both humbling and energizing, a reminder of broad arc of space exploration and Canada’s significant role in it.

Following the technical reviews, UVic hosted a hands-on satellite operations workshop, attended by nearly 20 students from across the visiting teams. The session took place at the UVic Centre for Aerospace Research’s (CfAR) state-of-the-art amateur-satellite ground station, which will be used for the upcoming MarmotSat mission. Drawing on lessons from UVic’s previous satellite, ORCASat, the workshop offered practical insight into mission operations, data handling, and communications protocols.

The week was a powerful reminder of the strength of Canada’s student space community: teams driving cross-disciplinary innovation, tackling real engineering challenges, and building the technical and leadership skills that will shape the next generation of the aerospace sector.

With the CDRs now complete, the teams will begin assembling and testing their satellites, preparing for launch and operations, which is planned for mid-2026. Dr. Afzal Suleman, aerospace systems engineer, UVic professor, and program director of the forthcoming Aerospace Systems Engineering MEng program, notes that “the CUBICS program provides a great platform for students to engage in Space Engineering and related systems. The Critical Design Review represents a significant milestone in the program, and we were pleased to contribute to this national effort by hosting the meeting and sharing our experience and infrastructure with all the participating universities in Western Canada."