CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A SPACE MISSION
Course objectives
The course aims to develop the creative thinking of space and astronautical engineering students through the definition, at an architectural level, of a space mission aimed at specific objectives provided by the teachers. Students will achieve the educational objective in a team work activity by making use of the methodologies, skills, notions and computational tools acquired during the first year of the master's degree. In order to achieve the educational goals, concurrent engineering tools may be used. The activity will end up in the production of a "Concept Document" which will contain the solution proposed by each team to achieve the mission objectives. Assembling the Concept Document will provide the students with the ability to carry out an efficient bibliographic research, aimed at obtaining the required information in the published literature, fact sheets of instrumentation and subsystems, and, if necessary, via a direct request to potential suppliers. The drafting of the "Concept Document" in the standard form of a mission pre-proposal, through the organic presentation of the proposed solution, the selection and detailing of the most important aspects, the highlighting of critical issues, will conclude the group work activity. In summary, the learning objectives of the course can be listed as follows: 1) development of creative thinking through the definition, at an architectural level, of a space mission aimed at specific objectives; 2) acquisition of the ability to organize the methodologies, skills, notions and calculation tools acquired during the first year of the master's degree towards the conceptual definition of a space mission, through a team-work activity; 3) learning how an efficient bibliographic search is carried out, aimed at acquiring information available in the literature, on fact sheets of instriments and subsystems, and direct interaction with potential suppliers; 4) acquisition of the ability to summarize the work carried out effectively, consistently and concisely, through the writing of a Concept Document. The Concept Document will offer a creative, yet viable, solution of a central problem of space engineering (the conceptual design of a space mission), starting from the skills all courses of the Astronautical and Space Engineering. This creative project will be carried out in groups, stimulating mutual comparisons and fostering the communication skills of the students.
Channel 1
LUCIANO IESS
Lecturers' profile
Program - Frequency - Exams
Course program
The course program is structured in such a way as to facilitate group work. The preparation of the concept document, the final objective of the training activity, will go through the following phases, which make up the program of the course:
1) Presentation of the general characteristics, goals and high-level requirements of the mission to be designed;
2) Brainstorming phase to outline a possible solution able to meet the mission requirements;
3) Fragmentation of requirements at the subsystem level:
a) Mission analysis and launcher identification
b) Structures and appendices
c) Attitude determination and control system
d) Propulsion system
e) Power system
f) Thermal control
g) Tracking and telecommunications
h) Navigation and operations
i) End of mission (disposal)
4) Assembly of the system and verification of its feasibility, in relation to the mission objectives (can all be satisfied? Is it possible to give up something by obtaining an important simplification of the satellite system?)
5) If not, iterate until the identified solution meets the requirements (or most of them).
6) Drafting of the Concept Document.
Prerequisites
The basic knowledge acquired in the first year courses of the master's degree is highly recommended to profitably deal with the activities of the course.
Books
The adoption of reference texts is not envisaged. The material necessary for the production of the Concept Document will be found through bibliographic searches and tool fact sheets.
Frequency
The student must regularly attend the lectures in which the material common to all groups will be illustrated. Each group will deal separately, in class and under the guidance of a tutor, with the activities foreseen for the production of the Concept Document and will be instructed on the activities to be carried out at home.
Exam mode
Each group will be evaluated based on the assessment of their Concept Document by the course instructor, in collaboration with the teaching team and the tutors who have supported the class throughout the course. The evaluation will consider the following aspects:
• Completeness of the work
• Methodological rigor
• Quality of the bibliographic research
• Technical feasibility
• Effectiveness of the presentations delivered during the course
A prize may be awarded to the group that develops the most outstanding solution to the proposed problem. The nature of the prize is to be defined and may include opportunities such as presenting at a national conference, a guided tour of an ESA center, or a visit to an industrial facility.
Bibliography
The adoption of reference texts is not envisaged. The material necessary for the production of the Concept Document will be found through bibliographic searches and tool fact sheets.
Lesson mode
The class will be divided into 5-6 groups, each working independently under the guidance of instructors and tutors with expertise in various disciplines (e.g., systems, structures, propulsion, etc.). Students will be assigned to groups based on a combination of their skills, ensuring that each group possesses the necessary expertise to achieve the objectives of the team project. [This assignment may take into account the results of the first-year exams, along with students' expressed interests in specific thematic areas (such as propulsion or structures), to create balanced groups.]
To foster creativity and independent thinking, it is essential that each team operates autonomously. The ultimate goal is to encourage innovation and provide a platform for comparing the diverse solutions proposed by each group, as outlined in their respective "Concept Documents" at the end of the course.
At the start of the course, illustrative materials will be provided to guide the students' work. These materials will outline the objectives, mission requirements, and any constraints. Each lesson will begin with an introductory session where instructors will explain the day's goals. With the support of tutors, each group will receive guidance on the correct design processes and assistance in sourcing relevant bibliographic material and information. In the final phase of the course, students will prepare their Concept Document and a presentation to showcase their work.
Students will be required to deliver two presentations:
1. System Requirements Review (SRR) + Preliminary Design Review (PDR).
2. Critical Design Review (CDR) / Final presentation
The first presentation will take place around the midpoint of the course, in front of the instructors. The second will be held at the end of the course, with the participation of representatives from space agencies and industry.
LUCIANO IESS
Lecturers' profile
Program - Frequency - Exams
Course program
The course program is structured in such a way as to facilitate group work. The preparation of the concept document, the final objective of the training activity, will go through the following phases, which make up the program of the course:
1) Presentation of the general characteristics, goals and high-level requirements of the mission to be designed;
2) Brainstorming phase to outline a possible solution able to meet the mission requirements;
3) Fragmentation of requirements at the subsystem level:
a) Mission analysis and launcher identification
b) Structures and appendices
c) Attitude determination and control system
d) Propulsion system
e) Power system
f) Thermal control
g) Tracking and telecommunications
h) Navigation and operations
i) End of mission (disposal)
4) Assembly of the system and verification of its feasibility, in relation to the mission objectives (can all be satisfied? Is it possible to give up something by obtaining an important simplification of the satellite system?)
5) If not, iterate until the identified solution meets the requirements (or most of them).
6) Drafting of the Concept Document.
Prerequisites
The basic knowledge acquired in the first year courses of the master's degree is highly recommended to profitably deal with the activities of the course.
Books
The adoption of reference texts is not envisaged. The material necessary for the production of the Concept Document will be found through bibliographic searches and tool fact sheets.
Frequency
The student must regularly attend the lectures in which the material common to all groups will be illustrated. Each group will deal separately, in class and under the guidance of a tutor, with the activities foreseen for the production of the Concept Document and will be instructed on the activities to be carried out at home.
Exam mode
Each group will be evaluated based on the assessment of their Concept Document by the course instructor, in collaboration with the teaching team and the tutors who have supported the class throughout the course. The evaluation will consider the following aspects:
• Completeness of the work
• Methodological rigor
• Quality of the bibliographic research
• Technical feasibility
• Effectiveness of the presentations delivered during the course
A prize may be awarded to the group that develops the most outstanding solution to the proposed problem. The nature of the prize is to be defined and may include opportunities such as presenting at a national conference, a guided tour of an ESA center, or a visit to an industrial facility.
Bibliography
The adoption of reference texts is not envisaged. The material necessary for the production of the Concept Document will be found through bibliographic searches and tool fact sheets.
Lesson mode
The class will be divided into 5-6 groups, each working independently under the guidance of instructors and tutors with expertise in various disciplines (e.g., systems, structures, propulsion, etc.). Students will be assigned to groups based on a combination of their skills, ensuring that each group possesses the necessary expertise to achieve the objectives of the team project. [This assignment may take into account the results of the first-year exams, along with students' expressed interests in specific thematic areas (such as propulsion or structures), to create balanced groups.]
To foster creativity and independent thinking, it is essential that each team operates autonomously. The ultimate goal is to encourage innovation and provide a platform for comparing the diverse solutions proposed by each group, as outlined in their respective "Concept Documents" at the end of the course.
At the start of the course, illustrative materials will be provided to guide the students' work. These materials will outline the objectives, mission requirements, and any constraints. Each lesson will begin with an introductory session where instructors will explain the day's goals. With the support of tutors, each group will receive guidance on the correct design processes and assistance in sourcing relevant bibliographic material and information. In the final phase of the course, students will prepare their Concept Document and a presentation to showcase their work.
Students will be required to deliver two presentations:
1. System Requirements Review (SRR) + Preliminary Design Review (PDR).
2. Critical Design Review (CDR) / Final presentation
The first presentation will take place around the midpoint of the course, in front of the instructors. The second will be held at the end of the course, with the participation of representatives from space agencies and industry.
- Lesson codeAAF2241
- Academic year2025/2026
- Coursecorso|33484
- CurriculumSpace missions and exploration (percorso formativo valido anche ai fini del conseguimento del doppio titolo italo-portoghese e il doppio titolo con Georgia institute of technology and Georgia Tech Lorraine)
- Year2nd year
- Semester2nd semester
- SSDN/D
- CFU3
- Subject areaAltre conoscenze utili per l'inserimento nel mondo del lavoro