Project management is a key element of any large project, where a variety of contributors and resources need to be brought together, always with cost and time constraints in mind. Especially after the planning phase, when resources and work packages are allocated, a manager has to control the progress of the work and react to unplanned events. Although SDW participants have to deal with a manageable number of resources and contributors, they are faced with a very complex task and an extremely challenging time frame. They must quickly organise themselves, allocate and schedule tasks, and learn to work as a team to achieve the common goal.
Team leaders integrate the contributions of team members and have the strength to push logically derived solutions to group acceptance. In addition, they are responsible for estimating total costs as well as analysing and mitigating risks associated with the satellite mission.
An important part of mission analysis consists in the definition of the launch, operations and ultimate disposal phases of a spacecraft. Most prominently during the SDW, the mission analysts shall assess desirable orbital trajectories for the VLEO satellite mission, for which a good knowledge of orbital mechanics is required. Satellite performance aspects such as aerodynamic drag mitigation by active and passive means, as well as constraints on mission and orbit planning must be taken into account. The latter are dictated e.g. by a need to minimise eclipse times for the benefit of solar-electric power generation, to ensure ample ground station contact windows, as well as providing the required conditions for the scientific payload.
Bridging between different subsystems, the systems engineer maintains an overview on the technical level of the individual satellite with regards to balancing mass, volume, energy, thermal and data budgets and conducts trade-offs between the demands and interdependencies of different subsystems. The systems engineer is also responsible for the generation and maintainenance of a CAD model of the individual satellite, which will help explore the optimal spatial arrangement of various subsystems. The overall system layout and topology of the individual VLEO satellite platform is iterated and optimised, taking technical and environmental constraints as well as mission requirements into account.
The Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) is a vital part of any satellite. It stabilises the vehicle during flight, ensures correct orientation in space and regulates the orbital trajectory. To do this, it must counteract the disturbances that manipulate the nominal trajectory and attitude of the space system to meet it scientific goals.
The AOCS system includes attitude determination by sensors and control actuators. In VLEO, a control strategy exploiting the residual atmosphere by using aerodynamic control surfaces becomes viable. A good knowledge of the vehicle characteristics such as mass, centre of mass location and moment of inertia is essential for the control algorithms to correctly determine the required torques and forces from the actuators.
Mobility in space, transfer between orbits and counteracting drag forces are of great interest and are achieved by in-space propulsion. You will need to know the advantages and disadvantages of the different technologies, focusing on electric propulsion options and in particular Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) systems. These obtain propellant mass from the residual atmosphere in VLEO, which primarily consists of highly corrosive hyperthermal atomic oxygen (ATOX). With performance and design margins imposed by the challenging VLEO environment being particularly stringent, designing an efficient ABEP propulsion system concept for a VLEO spacecraft requires careful planning and constant trade-offs with regards to the satellite's overall topology and layout as well as the management of its electrical power and waste heat.
A satellite's electrical power system is essential to ensure that all of the satellite's components function properly as needed. It is responsible for the generation, storage, distribution and management of electrical power throughout the satellite's lifetime. In addition to the needs of scientific payloads, on-board-data-handling (OBDH), and communication hardware amidst other typical subsystems driving the electrical power requirements of a satellite, such designed for sustainable operations in VLEO may further feature a highly demanding electric propulsion system. This increased energy demand as well as the impact of the volatile VLEO environment require innovative solutions in the deployment of photovoltaic technology, a detailed level of energy budgeting and careful coordination in mission planning.
The thermal control system is designed to maintain all of a satellite's components within safe operating temperature limits by managing waste heat generated by internal and external sources. Proper thermal management is critical to the satellite's performance, as extreme temperatures can cause equipment to fail or degrade. The overall increased and variable electrical power generation and transformation demands arising for VLEO satellite mission and system design concepts utilising active drag mitigation means, e.g. by electric spacecraft propulsion, impose considerable challenges, but also interesting potentials, with regards to thermal control.
A satellite's communication system plays a critical role in facilitating communication between the satellite and ground stations as well as other satellites. It must ensure that all housekeeping and scientific data can be transmitted within the available mass and power budgets during often limited windows of communication. At the low altitudes typical for VLEO, flyover and thus communication windows are particularly short and further subject to orbital disturbances arising from shifts in atmospheric densities due to a series of phenomena collectively referred to as "space weather". This imposes relatively higher demands on the efficiency of communication links between space and ground segments.
A satellite's science payload is the core component responsible for fulfilling the satellite's primary mission objectives. It refers to the instruments or equipment designed to collect specific scientific data or perform experiments in space. Your task will be to define primary and secondary payloads to meet the given objectives and to identify resulting requirements on the design of the mission and individual satellite platform(s).
Even the most sophisticated engineering solution will fail without proper presentation and visualisation of the results. During the workshop it is envisaged that a 3D CAD representation of the satellite will be created. The generated models shall then be used to create artist's impressions of the satellite(s) in order to sell a concept to potential customers. Finally, you will be responsible for the logo and corporate design for your team and the mission.