Space mission design and operations

Summary

This course is a "concepts" course. It introduces a variety of concepts to design and operate a space mission. These concepts cover orbital mechanics, spacecraft operation phases and critical subsystems.

Content

Keywords

• Orbital mechanics
• Spacecraft operations
• Space environment
• Space exploration

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

• Bachelor level courses in physics, vector analysis, and calculus

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Design a space mission
• Analyze the requirements of the operations
• Characterize the necessary different segments and subsystems

Transversal skills

• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
• Communicate effectively, being understood, including across different languages and cultures.

Teaching methods

Ex cathedra and exercices supervised in classroom

Expected student activities

Actively participate in the course and exercise sessions

Resources

Bibliography

Will be provided in the course introduction

A few exemples of interesting books available from the library:

• Space mission analysis and design
• Orbital Mechanics and Astrodynamics: Techniques and Tools for Space Missions

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Space Mission analysis and Design / Larson
• Orbital Mechanics and Astrodynamics: Techniques and Tools for Space Missions / Hintz

Notes/Handbook

Course notes available before each course on Moodle

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/EE-585