Delivery: face to face

Learning activities:

• attending lectures and seminars
• participation in all team work activities
• participation in design project reviews and presentations
• preparation of oral/written report and other project documentation

Attendance: Mandatory

Teaching methods:

• Team work on a design project under continuous supervision by the instructor
• Lectures and/or seminars of specific topics

Space mission design topics related to a Pre-Phase A mission study, including:

• technical feasibility and economic viability of different mission scenarios;
• selection of mission profile and timeline;
• design of orbits and trajectories;
• launch and in-orbit operations;
• sizing of the main onboard subsystems (attitude, power, thermal conditioning, propulsion, telecommunications, sensors, etc.);
• risk analysis;
• basic project management;
• any other topic that is functional to the mission design project.

Required reading:

• James R. Wertz, David F. Everett, Jeffery J. Puschell, ed, Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD, ISBN 978-1881883159, Springer - Microcosm Press, First edition, 2011.

Recommended reading:

• Peter W. Fortescue, John P. W. Stark, ed., Spacecraft Systems Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, 1996, ISBN 0-471-93451-8
• Vincent L. Pisacane and Robert C. Moore, ed., Fundamentals of Space Systems, Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-19-507497-1
• Charles D. Brown, Elements of Spacecraft Design, AIAA Education Series, 2002, ISBN 1-56347-524-3
• Vincent L. Pisacane, The Space Environment and its Effects on Space Systems, AIAA Education Series, 2008, ISBN 978-1-56347-926-7
• Ernst Messerschmid and Reinhold Bertrand, Space Stations: systems and utilization, Springer, 1999, ISBN 3-540-65464-X
• A. M. Cruise, J. A. Bowles, T. J. Patrick, and C.V. Goodall, Principles of Space Instrument Design, Cambridge Aerospace Series 9, Cambridge University Press 1998, ISBN 0-521-45164-7

At "Bibiloteca della Facoltà di Ingegneria":

• Michael D. Griffin, James R. French, Space Vehicle Design, AIAA, Washington, 1991 - Collocazione: 629.471 GRI r ING - 629.471 GRI v ING - 629.471 GRI g ING
• Brij N. Agrawal, Design of Geosynchronous Spacecraft, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1986 - Collocazione: 629.44 AGR r ING

At "Biblioteca del Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale":

• Charles D. Brown, Spacecraft Mission Design, AIAA, Washington, 1992 - Collocazione: 712-92-01-00

Special arrangements may be made for non-attending students on a case-by-case basis. Such arrangements must be agreed upon with the instructor before the start of the course.

In evaluating student performance, the following factors are taken into accout:

• individual contribution to the mission design exercise, assessed during the whole duration of the course (first and second period). Students are expected to take an active role in team work and to be able to interact effectively with team members and the instructors;
• active participation to the project reviews,discussions and presentations;
• individual oral exam. The discussion is mainly centered on the mission design project carried out during the course and on the specific topics treated in the lectures.