The space industry has expanded significantly in recent years, largely thanks to private companies reducing the cost of sending payloads into orbit. As a result, the market for CubeSat and other nanosatellite components has grown, and their popularity has increased. However, even with more affordable launches, off-the-shelf space hardware is still disproportionately expensive. This thesis investigates the in-house development of reaction wheels as a cost-efficient solution for CubeSats. It focuses on designing, fabricating, and testing a prototype to assess the reliability of budget-friendly satellite components and to contribute educationally to the field of satellite technology while discussing the possibilities of self-built satellite components in a hypothetical 6U earth observation satellite. The findings reveal that while it is feasible to construct reaction wheels in-house, their performance, reliability and efficiency are limited, indicating a need for further refinement and optimisation to meet industry standards, suggesting compromise solutions between expensive commercial and budget-focused, self-built components.