Satellite Design Workshop

In the weeks leading up to the workshop in Stuttgart, selected participants for the Satellite Design Workshop (SDW) will be assigned their team position and provided with instructions and reading material to prepare for the SDW.

In Stuttgart, the workshop will kick off with a series of expert lectures and crash courses on key topics related to VLEO research and technology, satellite mission design, and aerospace project management. The teams will then be provided a mission statement and a set of requirements for the task at hand: Designing a scientific VLEO satellite mission on the level of a Phase 0/A study.

In the following days, each team will work towards developing their own concept,working together to meet deadlines and to impress a panel of experts during regular design reviews. Participants can look forward to an intense but rewarding week in a stimulating international environment, during which their shared vision for a VLEO satellite mission takes shape.

Finally, following an intense week (and weekend!) of engineering teamwork and social events, both teams will present their concept to the panel of experts, who will select a winning concept.

Applications to participate in the First Satellite Design Workshop are now being accepted until 30 April 18 May 2025!

Please apply here or using the button below.

Please note that placements are limited and that a submission of your application does not in itself constitute a registration to the workshop. Your participation is contingent to being selected from the pool of applicants. Access to the workshop will only be granted to successful applicants as selected by the organising committee.

To apply to participate in the SDW, the following must apply to you:

• You have a background in and affinity to STEM topics relevant to spaceflight, for example (but not limited to!) aerospace, mechanical, electrical and materials engineering or physics.
• You are either
  
  • a student pursuing a Master's degree in a relevant STEM field,
  • a student pursuing a Bachelor's degree in a relevant STEM field and nearing the conclusion of your degree,
  • a post-graduate doctoral researcher in a relevant STEM field in the early stages of your thesis work, or
  • a recent (maximum of three years) graduate working in the relevant industry.
• You are proficient in the English language (both in speech and writing) to a degree that you can communicate and discuss complex tasks and concepts in an international setting.
• You are able and willing to work constructively in an international and interdisciplinary team towards a common objective.

The following documentation is required to apply for participation in the SDW:

1. An up-to-date curriculum vitae
2. An up-to-date transcript of records from your University
3. An endorsement by a professor/academic advisor or superior. Please ask them to fill out and sign this pdf form, which can either be submitted directly during the application process or sent directly by the endorser to the organizing team via e-mail. The applicant must be known personally to the endorser, who must further consent to the possibility of being contacted in the case of additional inquiries.

In case you are experiencing technical difficulties with the application form, please contact us via e-mail.

The Satellite Design Workshop 2025 is hosted by the Collaborative Research Center 1667 ATLAS, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under Project-ID 516238647 – SFB 1667.

Thanks to this generous support, the workshop is free of charge for all participants. For participants from outside of Stuttgart, accommodation will be provided free of charge, and travel cost support will be granted subject to availability and demand.

Please be aware that the budget for travel cost support is limited, and that the exact amount of individual travel cost support will be determined after the candidate selection process has concluded.

Learn more about the individual positions within each team by clicking the following link!

The Satellite Design Workshop (SDW) is inspired by and partially rooted in the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW), which has been held several times since 1996 with great success at the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

With the topic of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) gaining momentum, the Collaborative Research Center 1667 ATLAS (Advancing Technologies for Low-Altitude Satellites) was inaugurated in April 2024 at the University of Stuttgart, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This research programme aims to address many of the fundamental scientific and engineering challenges of making sustainable satellite operations in VLEO a reality through the means of seventeen closely interlinked research projects focusing on various complementary aspects.

A guiding reference mission concept named MEROPE (Multi-satellite Exploratory Research Of Physical Environment in VLEO) has been conceived as an additional framework to motivate the collaborative nature and progression of this research programme. Beginning with a mission statement addressing one or more scientific problems associated with VLEO and incorporating state-of-the-art findings from the CRC 1667 ATLAS and from VLEO researchers all over the world, the annually held SDW shall see MEROPE expressed as a fleshed-out science mission engineering study. Through this, new operational, scientific and technological potentials and challenges shall be explored and identified, feeding back into shaping the future of VLEO research.

Students of the University of Stuttgart have the opportunity to earn 3 ECTS credit points for their participation at the workshop. Further details can be found in the C@mpus and ILIAS systems.

Contact us at sdw(at)atlas.uni-stuttgart.de.