A Hands-on Concurrent Space Systems Engineering Workshop

Course Description: 

This completely hands-on on-site or virtual workshop provides a unique opportunity to design a real-world space mission from scratch.  Course participants are given a set of mission objectives in the form of a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Announcement of Opportunity (AO) and divided into competing groups to conceptually design a viable mission that meets the customer expectations at an acceptable lifecycle cost.  The groups are guided through a structured space system engineering approach to define a mission concept and supporting space mission architecture, and complete a detailed analysis.  Participants are given a comprehensive mission design and analysis tool along with a full copy of the Satellite Tool Kit software to analyze trade-offs and complete their design.  A minimum of in-class lecture provides “just-in-time” learning and concrete examples to keep participants on track.  The product of the design exercise is a 30 minute Mission Concept Review presentation where the participants are given the opportunity to outline and defend their design decisions.  The Space Mission Design Exercise serves as a concrete and practical means to apply and test space system engineering techniques in a non-threatening, real-life environment. With over 3,000 alumni, this course is designed for systems engineers, payload principle investigators, subsystem engineers or project managers who are responsible for the detailed design and operations of space systems. Intact teams preparing to develop or respond to an existing RFP or AO. Past participants from Designing Space Missions & Systems, Human Spaceflight or Understanding Space are ideal!