This paper presents the CUAVA-2 satellite design based on the lessons learnt from the CUAVA-1 mission. CUAVA-1 and CUAVA-2 satellites are CubeSats designed by the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs and Their Applications (CUAVA). The CUAVA centre was established in December 2017 to train and create an Australian workforce in sustainable, advanced manufacturing, space and UAV industries of national importance. The CUAVA-1 satellite was deployed into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) on 6 October at 21:55 (AEDT). At the time of writing, the CUAVA team hasn’t received any signal from CUAVA-1. Although the tracking activity is still ongoing, we have conducted a fault root analysis for the CUAVA-1, which will serve as design inputs for the CUAVA-2 satellite. The 6U CUAVA-2 Satellite bus design is based on the 3U CUAVA-1 CubeSat bus, with an upgraded ADCS system, EPS and an additional high-speed communication system. The two primary payloads are upgraded from the CUAVA-1 primary payloads design, including a hyperspectral imager designed by a space photonics group at the University of Sydney and a GPS reflectometry payload developed by the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at the University of New South Wales. It also carries several secondary payloads for technology demonstration and space weather study. The CUAVA-2 satellite has completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) and is scheduled for launch by April 2023.