In this comprehensive two-semester course on spacecraft design, students embark on a collaborative journey to meticulously craft the conceptual and preliminary blueprint of a spacecraft. Through dynamic team efforts, participants delve deep into the intricacies of aerospace engineering, meticulously analyzing how their designs intersect with and impact the broader community. The course is structured to provide students with a hands-on experience, with the initial iteration taking place in AE 460A and a subsequent refinement process in AE 460B, where additional requirements challenge students to push the boundaries of their designs further. Throughout this rigorous academic pursuit, students not only cultivate their technical skills but also develop a profound understanding of the symbiotic relationship between aerospace engineering and society at large.
AE460 Spacecraft design has completed the preliminary design review for spacecraft design projects of five CubeSat missions. Thank you NASA/JPL, SpaceMicro, General Atomics & SolAero Technologies / Alliance / Vanguard for your support! Great job, SDSU (Aerospace/SPACE lab)! AE460 is a two-semester sequence course in which the students work in teams to complete the conceptual and preliminary design of a spacecraft. The course consists of the conceptual/preliminary design of a spacecraft/satellite, with the first iteration in AE 460A and a second iteration, with additional requirements, in AE 460B. The students have been exposed to the general aspects of spacecraft and space missions where a potential mission/payload is considered. The design project is based on CubeSat-type mission. There are 28 students divided into five different groups. Each group designed experiment(s) that can be launched into Space as part of a mini-Satellite, which would tackle real-life problems that can be best solved from outer Space.
