Spacecraft Structures Development

Spacecraft and launcher structures are subjected to extreme environments, making their design and development and the verification thereof (DVV) very complex. In this course

the design of the main spacecraft structure, the structural behaviour of non-structural spacecraft components and their interaction will be illustrated and addressed through the design of the structure of a spaceborne instrument. Thermal elastics and dynamics of the instrument structure will be considered. In small groups, participating students will have to design their own instrument structure, addressing both thermo-elastics and vibrations. Verification and validation of the designs will be addressed as well.

The course will consist of lectures, working sessions, design review sessions and a final symposium. The course structure will be explained in detail in the first weekly module. The time and date of the design review(s) and final symposium will also be communicated in the first weekly module. Students are requested to reserve all scheduled timeslots in their agendas.

Each module will consist of a combination of learning activities, e.g. reading suggested papers, watching videos and small assignments.

Note that, the course will require group work. Groups will be formed in the fourth week of the course. Only students who pass the individual test are allowed to participate in a group. Students who are not part of a group cannot participate in the remainder of the course. For the purpose of the course, each group will be considered to be a company that tries to win the bid of a large space organization to engineer a space instrument.

At the end of the course, a mini-symposium will be organized in which each group presents their design for the space instrument structure.