Course Description
This multi-disciplinary and experiential learning course introduces students to the design, integration, testing, and applications of small satellite systems. The course will cover subsystems contained in nearly every remote sensing satellite. Students will produce industry/NASA-style documents describing scientific goals and how they will be achieved through a satellite mission.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students are required to turn in and present an
additional review, a Program Management Review (PMR), which is a
step beyond the second review required of undergraduates. PMR
focuses on the finer details of satellite mission design, e.g.,
subsystem specifics and integration, where the first two reviews
only require summaries of subsystem and mission requirements.
Additionally, the graduate students will be graded at a higher
level on all other material.
Athena Title
Small Satellites
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students are expected to: 1) Design a satellite mission from initial concept through full subsystem requirements and launch readiness. 2) Learn about basic subsystems contained in nearly every satellite-big or small, specifically focusing on CubeSats, which are small satellites with a mass less than 10kg. 3) Become familiar with industry-, NASA-, and Air Force-style satellite and systems engineering reviews. 4) Compile two “review” documents based on their satellite design, e.g., a Systems Concept Review and a Systems Requirement Review. These reviews take the students through industry- and NASA-style reviews of the scientific questions they wish to answer and ensure they consider the correct requirements needed to achieve these goals.
Topical Outline
1. Introduction to satellites and their subsystems 2. Cube Satellites (CubeSats) and their roles in modern scientific innovation 3. Current remote sensing satellites and their capabilities 4. Orbital dynamics and mission capabilities 5. How to create a mission statement 6. Determining satellite subsystem requirements 7. Satellite mission review processes 8. Subsystems integration techniques 9. Proper testing practices 10. Solar power generation 11. Ground station and communications 12. Data processing 13. Science applications