Course Catalogue

Mission Design & Development M ENG5342

  • Academic Session: 2026-27
  • School: School of Engineering
  • Credits: 10
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

This module will provide the students a background to mission design and development for satellites, the tradeoffs required for a satellite mission and the various design and test stages that need to be considered. The team will work through a development cycle for a satellite mission and demonstrate their solution to a set mission with given requirements.

Timetable

3 x 1 hr lectures

3 x 1 hr Seminars

Weekly meetings with supervisor.

Weekly meetings as a team without supervisor.

Requirements of Entry

None

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

60% Group Final Report (40% Group mark and 20% Individual mark (demonstrated by an indication of the work undertaken for the report)

10% group interim report

10% group interim presentation

10% self-assessment contribution from each student within the team

10% group final presentation

Course Aims

The aims of this course are to:

■ introduce students to the practical issues involved in a full life cycle space mission team design project, alongside the many different trade-offs these teams are required to make and negotiate

■ introduce industry standards related to working within the space industry (including a review of the ethics, legal, health and safety, codes of practise, and risk management)

■ enable students to demonstrate their knowledge with regards to satellite mission design

■ Carry out trade-offs to optimise the mission goals

■ Work through a full mission development process, including the use of ESA/NASA review stages

■ Provide a means to evaluate complex decisions to allow an informed decision to be made

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Work within a team to achieve a desired full life cycle space mission proposal

■ Apply industry standards and review practises throughout the design process using project management principles to support the design process and manage project risk

■ Analyse requirements and critically evaluate the suitability of tools to develop a mission

■ Critically Evaluate and compare suitable space systems to achieve the desired mission justifying the mission and satellite developed

■ Critically evaluate and manage any potential risks (including ethical and security) associated with the complex mission design developed

■ Summarise either the commercial offering/impact of the mission or the commercial potential/impact of the data from the mission

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

No exceptions