With a plywood chassis, “selfie stick,” and 3D-printed carbon nanotube circuitry, this isn’t your average satellite.

A CubeSat due to launch next year is going to enter orbit with a unique feature: A wooden chassis, into which 3D-printed circuits have been fitted to give it functionality.

A partnership between UPM Plywood, Arctic Astronautics, and Huld, the WISA Woodsat is designed to adhere to the CubeSat standard — meaning it’s a compact, low-cost satellite based on a cube roughly four inches on a side and weighing around 2.2lbs. Inside the case is a suite of sensors, like any of its rivals — along with a couple of features which make it stand out, starting with the material from which it’s made.

He begins by doing a survey of available low-cost options in the first video, and finds there isn’t a complete package for less than $10,000. By the time you added all necessary “options”, the final tally would probably be well over $20,000.

Want to build your own CubeSat but have been put off by the price? There may be a solution in the works — [RG Sat] has challenged himself to design and build one for less than $1,000

Building a CubeSat for less than $1000 — Part 1 — It should be possible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8TSiKHZbC8

Why are CubeSats / Cube Satellites so expensive? Entry level 1U satellites for basic science missions often cost at least $10 or $20K, and I figure that they shouldn’t, given how cheap consumer electronics are. 2U / 3U and above satellites are even more expensive, not to mention the much much larger launch cost. Is the high cost justified by the unique operating environment and market demand for CubeSats?

Today I set a goal of building a functional (but without science payload) CubeSat that costs less than $1000 in material and production costs.

Is this achievable? I hope to find out!