Introduction to Space Systems ─ Design and Synthesis

The definition of all space systems starts with the establishment of its fundamental parameters: requirements to be fulfilled, overall system and satellite design, analysis and design of the critical elements, developmental approach, cost, and schedule. There are only a few texts covering early design of space systems and none of them has been specifically dedicated to it. Furthermore all existing space engineering books concentrate on analysis. None of them deal with space system synthesis – with the interrelations between all the elements of the space system. Introduction to Space Systems concentrates on understanding the interaction between all the forces, both technical and non-technical, which influence the definition of a space system. This book refers to the entire system: space and ground segments, mission objectives as well as to cost, risk, and mission success probabilities. Introduction to Space Systems is divided into two parts. The first part analyzes the process of space system design in an abstract way. The second part of the book focuses on concrete aspects of the space system design process. It concentrates on interactions between design decisions and uses past design examples to illustrate these interactions. The idea is for the reader to acquire a good insight in what is a good design by analyzing these past designs.

Miguel A. Aguirre Cid received a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He started working in the field of space mechanisms; first for the Spanish company Sener and then later for the European Space Agency. Since 1990, the author has worked in the preliminary design of space missions in the ‘Future Missions Division’ of the Earth Observation Directorate of the European Space Agency. During this time, Aguirre has designed a variety of space missions both related to pure Earth science and to Earth-related operational applications.