Satellite Engineering
From mission idea to operations.
Course
How a satellite mission is defined, designed, built, tested and flown: requirements, payloads, links to the ground and the life cycle of a project.
Before you start
- Spacecraft Systems foundation recommended
- Basic geometry
Learning objectives
- Describe the life of a mission from idea to end of life
- Explain what a ground station does and why contact time is limited
- Write a simple mission requirement that can be tested
By the end you can
- Can turn an idea into requirements
- Can check whether the data a mission makes can reach the ground
Before you start
- Logarithms and decibels
- Spacecraft Systems advanced recommended
Learning objectives
- Calculate ground sampling distance for a camera payload
- Use free-space path loss in a first-cut link budget
- Size data storage and downlink time for a mission
- Explain the verification approach: analysis, inspection, demonstration, test
By the end you can
- Can size a payload and a link with standard relations
- Can explain how a mission is verified before launch
Lesson plan
Lessons · Ages 14–16
Mission idea to requirements
- Who needs the data?
- Writing testable requirements
Payloads
- Cameras and image detail
- Other sensors
Talking to the ground
- Ground stations
- Passes and contact windows
- Data volume
Build, test, fly
- Integration
- Testing as you fly
- Operations and end of life
Hands-on activities
- Write three requirements for a school weather-imaging satellite and say how each would be tested
- Plan how many ground-station passes are needed to download a day of images
Challenge: Mission One-Pager
Produce a one-page mission concept: user, payload, orbit, data per day and how the data reaches the user.
Pass criteria
- Every requirement is testable
- Daily data volume is calculated and fits the passes available
- The end-of-life plan is stated
Physics and mathematics
Show the 2 equations
data = rate × time
data in megabits, rate in Mbit/s, time in s
A 1 Mbit/s link during an 8-minute pass moves 480 megabits, which is 60 megabytes.
1 byte = 8 bits
—
Links are quoted in bits per second; files in bytes.
3D models
- 6U Earth-observation satellite (existing: Satellite Explorer 3D)
- Ground-station pass visualisation (planned for Academy)
Lessons · Ages 17–18
Payload performance
- Ground sampling distance
- Swath and revisit
Link budgets
- Decibels
- Free-space path loss
- Antenna gain and margin
Data systems
- Onboard storage
- Compression
- Downlink scheduling
Verification and life cycle
- Verification methods
- Environmental testing
- Operations and disposal
Hands-on activities
- Compute GSD for a small camera at 500 km and at 600 km and discuss the trade
- Build a link budget spreadsheet for a UHF beacon and an S-band downlink
Challenge: Link Closes
Given transmitter power, antenna gains and receiver sensitivity, decide whether a downlink closes at the edge of a pass.
Pass criteria
- Path loss within 0.5 dB of the reference
- Correct closes / does-not-close verdict with the margin stated
- One design change proposed that would add 3 dB
Physics and mathematics
Show the 3 equations
GSD = H × p ÷ f
H altitude in m, p pixel pitch in m, f focal length in m
A smaller GSD means finer detail; it grows with altitude.
FSPL(dB) = 20 log₁₀(d) + 20 log₁₀(f) + 92.45
d in km, f in GHz
Signal strength falls with the square of distance; decibels turn that into addition.
margin = received power − required power
dB
Positive margin means the link closes with room for losses you did not model.
3D models
- 6U satellite payload footprint and ground link (existing: Satellite Explorer 3D)
Classes and workshops
Online
Self-paced tutorials now; live online classes planned.
In person
No offline workshop is planned for this track yet; its activities can be done at home or in a school lab.
Existing tutorials for this track
Eligibility, independence and privacy
- Independent initiative. Space Academy is part of an independent ISHAVASYAM.ORG education initiative. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or run on behalf of ISRO, IN-SPACe, NSIL or the Department of Space.
- No competition eligibility. Learning here does not register anyone for, or make anyone eligible for, any national or international competition. Each competition's organisers set its rules and eligibility.
- Simulated and illustrative. Interactive missions use simplified models and simulated, illustrative values. They are labelled as such and are not flight data.
- Ages. Written for learners aged 14 to 18. Anyone may play the self-paced missions; enquiries from under-18s need a parent or guardian.
- Privacy. Missions never ask for a name, school, age or contact details. Progress is stored only in this browser and can be cleared at any time. This site uses Google Analytics to count page visits and mission steps. Some of the site's existing tutorials ask visitors to sign in with a Google account. If you are under 18, check with a parent or guardian before signing in.