Abstract The research for global climate changes calls for high quality satellite data and imageries regarding the Polar Regions. In recent years, the emerging Earth-Observation micro/nano satellite technology provides new data sources for polar region observations. The STU-2A, also named TW-1A, is such a nano satellite designed for polar region observation activities. It is a 3U CubeSat of 2.9 kg with a size of 30 × 10 × 10 cm carrying an Earth observation camera, launched into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at 481 km with an inclination of 97.3°, on September 25, 2015. During the Antarctic summer of 2015/16, it has acquired visible-light true color images with a resolution of 94 m, covering different sea and coastal regions including Amundsen Sea, Ross Sea and Vincennes Bay. These images were used to analyze the change of glacier and sea ice, compared and calibrated with reference to the publically available MODIS images with a resolution of 250 m. As the camera was specially designed for the Polar regions which have an environment of low solar elevation angle and high surface reflectance, it eliminates the oversaturation problem of the MODIS sensors and can provide high quality images. Based on data analysis and assessment, it is confirmed that this satellite data can meet the demand of glacier and sea ice observation. This paper presents the Cubesat system design and configuration, the payload camera design, and its application in Antarctic glacier and sea ice observation.