Mission-based learning with a spacecraft Digital Twin

01What MissionLab is

MissionLab teaches spacecraft engineering by having learners operate a deterministic Digital Twin of a CubeSat. They make a prediction, run the model, compare evidence, make an engineering decision and state what the model does not prove.

The same spacecraft serves a Grade 6 class and an university cohort. What changes between them is the academic depth disclosed — not the physics underneath. That is what makes the progression real rather than a relabelling of the same worksheet.

• One model, six depths. The same spacecraft serves Grade 6 and university learners. What changes is the academic depth disclosed, not the physics — so the progression is real rather than repackaged.
• Learners produce evidence, not clicks. Every mission ends with a prediction, a comparison, an engineering decision and a limitation statement. That is what the teacher reviews.
• Honest about what it is. Evidence is labelled simulated, derived or reference. Nothing is presented as measured flight data, and no accreditation is claimed.
• Two ways to run it, and you choose. Open Practice asks for no learner account on the routes that support it, and creates no institutional School record or submission — a learner's work stays in their own browser where a local record is implemented. Managed School adds institution and class enrolment so assigned work, submissions and released teacher feedback persist. Neither needs hardware, an installation or an LMS integration.

02How a lesson runs

A mission is teacher-guided and takes one session of roughly 55 to 70 minutes. Learners work in pairs. The sequence is fixed, so a teacher who has run one mission can run any of them.

1. 01Mission
2. 02Preparation
3. 03Readiness
4. 04Operate
5. 05Evidence
6. 06Complete
7. 07Recognition

The learner finishes with a record: their prediction, the evidence they selected, the decision they made and the limitation they stated. That record is what the teacher reviews. Where it lives depends on how you run the class.

03Two ways to run it

MissionLab School has two modes. They use the same spacecraft model and the same missions; they differ in whether a learner’s work persists and who can assess it.

Open Practice

Run missions without an institution. Account-free where the route supports it, and the learner's work stays in their own browser.

Managed School

A class runs one exact released Grade Programme. Assigned work and submitted evidence persist, a teacher assesses them, and released feedback reaches the learner.

In Open Practice the record stays in the learner’s browser, where a local record is implemented, unless they print or export it. In Managed School only work the learner intentionally submits through the managed workflow becomes a persistent institutional submission; a teacher then assesses it and decides when feedback is released.

Practice work is never uploaded into a School record automatically. There is no import and no conversion between the two.

04The progression

05Mission families

Twelve engineering domains are mapped in the framework. Thirteen runnable pilot missions cover fourteen experiment IDs; MLX-12 is mapped but its learner lesson is unavailable. Every runnable mission remains a pilot pending educator review and classroom evidence.

• · First Contact & Spacecraft Systems
• · Sensors, Telemetry & Data Quality
• · Electrical Power & Energy Management
• · Attitude, Motion & Reaction Wheels
• · Feedback, Estimation & Control
• · Communications & Ground Link
• · Orbit, Ground Track & Contact Planning
• · Payload / Imaging / Mission Data
• · Thermal & Environmental Constraints
• · Faults, Diagnosis & Recovery
• · Integrated Mission Operations
• · Model-versus-Hardware Verification / Capstone

06Who provides what

CubeSTEM provides

• · A scoped MissionLab software pilot with selected missions and Open Practice or Managed School delivery as agreed.
• · Teacher preparation material, onboarding and support for the agreed pilot sequence.
• · Learner evidence workflows; in Managed School, submitted work reaches the teacher for human assessment and feedback release.

Your school provides

• Devices. One computer per pair of learners, with a modern browser. No installation.
• Accounts. Depends on the mode. Open Practice asks no learner to register. Managed School uses institution and class enrolment, so assigned work, submissions and released teacher feedback can persist.
• Hardware. None. The spacecraft is a software model; no kit is required to complete a mission.
• Teacher preparation. One planning period. The lesson ships with prompts, an answer key, misconceptions and timings.
• Timetable. Two sessions of about 55–70 minutes, or one double period.
• Internet. A standard school connection. Nothing is streamed or downloaded.

07Programme options

Costs are agreed with the school and depend on scale and duration. We would rather discuss that against your actual grade levels than publish a figure that fits nobody.

08What this is not

• — It is not an accredited qualification, and no examination board has reviewed it.
• — It does not produce an official grade. Assessment is formative and teacher-reviewed.
• — It is not a hardware programme. No satellite kit is supplied or required.
• — It does not use real satellite telemetry. The spacecraft is a deterministic model.
• — It is not classroom-validated yet. All thirteen runnable missions are pilot lessons pending educator review and classroom evidence.

Tracked ≠ signal received ≠ data decoded

That line appears in the product itself. Learners are taught that a modelled pass is geometry — it is not a received signal, and it is not decoded data. Being precise about evidence is part of the engineering, not a disclaimer bolted on afterwards.

09How to start

The sensible first step is a two-session trial with a single class. It costs the school one planning period and two lessons, and it produces enough evidence to judge the fit.

You can also simply try a lesson yourself before contacting anyone. That is Open Practice, so no account is required.