After an introduction, we will first cover the process involved with the ascent of a spacecraft into orbit. We provide a listing of worldwide launch sites and a discussion of the space industry.

Subsequent lectures include a detailed history of spacecraft along with current and future LVs and upcoming space missions. Then, we look at the two environments that determine many spacecraft design features: the pre-launch and launch environment, and the space environment. Pre-launch and launch environments include transportation, ascent trajectories and launch profile loads, and design drivers. Space environment includes gravitational perturbations (regression of nodes, periapsis advance), three-body motion & Lagrange points, space radiation and radiation belts. This is followed by a discussion of space environment effects, such as drag in low-earth orbit, gravity gradient, magnetic fields, solar radiation pressure, single-event upsets (SEUs), static discharge, atomic oxygen, orbital debris, outgassing, and internal mechanical disturbances.

Next, we provide a detailed introduction to spacecraft orbits and trajectories, including Kepler’s laws, conservation of energy and angular momentum, conic sections and classical orbital elements, and discuss “special” orbits such as transfer orbits, geostationary, Molniya, and sun-synchronous. Orbit details such as plane changes, transfers, the method of patched conics, and gravity-assist maneuvers are provided.

Orbital information is concluded with mention of orbital rendezvous and phasing. Low-thrust orbit raising and decay leading to atmosphere entry are discussed, as are aerobraking & aerocapture, deceleration, heating, and shape effects. Next, it’s time to talk about the design cycle. We discuss mission design and payload development, including the design-development-flight operations cycle. Payload types, including direct- and remote-sensing, are introduced, followed by selection of payloads and some practical considerations. The elements of the spacecraft bus are listed along with major spacecraft design drivers: mass, power, and volume. We discuss initial mass & power estimation and allocation to subsystems including recommended margins, and the launch vehicle interface.

The next lectures delve into the details of the bus subsystems including structures and mechanisms, propulsion, attitude sensing and control, navigation and orbit determination, thermal control, and the environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) for a crewed spacecraft. We discuss power generation, distribution, and storage with solar arrays, batteries, radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs), and system sizing procedures. Two sections on long-distance tele-communications and command and data handling round out the bus subsystem exposé. These include the link equation and link budget calculation, frequencies used, antennas and ranging, the Deep Space Network (DSN), types of spacecraft data, encoding & telemetry, computers & data storage, and software development.

The course then discusses testing procedures (mechanical/mechanisms, VS&A = vibration, shock, & acoustic, thermal, vacuum, radio frequency (RF), software, and integration with the launch vehicle. Next, a number of spacecraft failures are presented along with the “Five Mistakes to Look For” and a discussion of redundancy. The final lecture is on cost estimation, including parametric modeling, cost models, cost-estimating relationships (CERs), and other associated costs such as launch vehicles, mission operations, DSN, and software.

KEY TOPICS

• History of spacecraft
• Current LVs and new developments
• Spacecraft Design Drivers 1: Pre-launch & launch environment
• Introduction to orbits, orbital mechanics
• Spacecraft Design Drivers 2: Space environment & how it affects spacecraft
• Orbital maneuvering & rendezvous
• Low-thrust trajectories, orbital decay, atmospheric entry
• Spacecraft Mission & Payload Development
• Structures, mechanisms, materials, structural analysis
• Propulsion systems
• Attitude sensing, guidance, navigation
• Spacecraft dynamics, and control
• Thermal control, Environmental Control & Life Support Systems (ECLSS) for crewed spacecraft
• Power systems
• Telecommunications
• Command and data handling
• Testing, failures, lessons learned
• Cost estimation

[See Detailed Outline Below]

AUDIENCE This course is intended for engineers of all types – systems, controls, structures, propulsion, reliability, manufacturing, as well as researchers, mission designers, technical managers, and both undergraduate and graduate students, who want to enhance their understanding oft he fundamental principles of the design and operation of spacecraft. This introductory course focuses on the basic physical concepts and mathematics utilized in the preliminary design and analysis of space vehicles including many practical aspects.

MATERIALS: Stream the 30 hours of video recordings anytime, 24/7 from the 12 lectures, approximately 2.5 hours per lecture. Course notes will be available for in-browser viewing on Aerospace Research Central. Email Lisa Le, LisaL@aiaa.org, to request access after registering. No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted, unless for course participants. All rights reserved.

CERTIFICATE: Receive an AIAA Course Completion Certificate upon viewing all course recordings. Please contact Lisa Le for a certificate.

COURSE FEES (Sign-In to Register)

Member Price: $ 1,295 USD 
Non-Member Price: $1,495 USD 
Student Member Price: $695 USD

INSTRUCTOR

AIAA Associate Fellow and former Boeing Technical Fellow Don Edberg has been teaching aerospace vehicle design since 2001 at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP); he also holds part-time positions at USC and UCLA. He is co-author of the textbook Design of Rockets and Space Launch Vehicles, published in 2020. CPP student design teams he has advised have placed1st, 2nd, or 3rdover 20 times in AIAA student design competitions in Missile Systems, Space Transportation Systems, Spacecraft Design, and Aircraft Design. At CPP, he has received the Provost’s Excellence in Teaching award, College of Engineering’s Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Advisor awards ,and the Northrop Grumman Faculty Teaching award. He has presented short courses in launch vehicle and spacecraft design to several NASA centers, National Transportation Safety Board, Northrop Grumman, Boeing Satellite Systems, and several smaller aerospace businesses. He was a Technical Fellow at Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, where he authored or co-authored ten US patents, and received the Silver Eagle award from McDonnell Douglas as Chief Engineer on the STABLE active microgravity vibration isolation system that successfully flew on STS-73 shuttle mission. He has also worked at Convair, AeroVironment (where he was the chief engineer on the electric-powered, back-packable FQM-151 Pointer UAV), JPL, NASA Ames, NASA MSFC, and US Air Force Research Lab. He received a B.A. in Applied Mechanics from the UC San Diego, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Sciences from Stanford. He is an Eminent Engineer in Tau Beta Pi and was Engineer of the Year of the AIAA Orange County, CA section.

COURSE OUTLINE (Timeline is approximate):