Space mission design and operations

Summary

Space mission design and operations takes you through the necessary concepts to understand a mission mission, from planning to actually flying the spacecraft. We will focus on concepts and see many examples ranging historical probes to very topical missions.

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

• Analyze a mission plan
• Anticipate the behaviour of a spacecraft and its environment
• Discuss the different phases of spaceflight

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

Assessment methods

Oral examination

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