Satellite Design Competition 2020 - 21

The Satellite Design Competition invites students to design, construct and operate a nanosatellite payload system with the objective to acquire as much information from an analogue lunar nanosatellite mission. Students shall create a payload concept, trade off performance parameters and pass through a rigorous review process with panels of experts within the space industry. The competition aims to reach out to students from multiple scientific fields, including, but not limited to, physicists, engineers and computer scientists.

The competition aims to:

• Challenge students to perform a complex, systems engineering task of the development of a payload to a set of real space mission requirements.
• Gain exposure and experience of the typical design processes and protocols in industry projects, including multiple project reviews.
• Enable students to apply taught technical skills and learn new ones relevant to a job in the space industry in an applicable project environment.
• Provide students with an opportunity to develop and practice other important and transferable skills, such as teamwork, leadership and project management.

This year marks the fourth instalment of the Satellite Design Competition. During the first 2 years, competing teams researched and designed a space mission utilising cubesats for astronomy, where an extensive final report was submitted. Last year, the competition was expanded to include a build phase, where competing teams had the opportunity to design and construct a nanosatellite payload. The heritage of the competition was kept, where the extensive report was separated out into multiple, smaller reports that can be expected in industry space mission design: a Preliminary Design Report, a Critical Design Report and a Test Readiness Review. The nanosatellite payload will be integrated on-board Open Cosmos’ 3U OpenKit platform and teams were to be scored over a series of tasks on a competition challenge day finale.

If you have any questions or inquiries please contact satellites@ukseds.org.

Organisers

This years Satellite Design Competition has 2 organisations assist in the development and management over the course of the year: SSPI and UKSEDS.

UKSEDS

Formed in 1988 and now with over 450 members and 27 affiliated societies located up and down the country, the UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (UKSEDS) is a charity run by student volunteers, for students. We support students and enthusiasts across the country by running space projects, hosting conferences and workshops, and doing outreach to inspire and educate the next generation of space enthusiasts. We run and support multiple events throughout each year, including events, workshops, competitions and conferences. Our most popular being the National Student Space Conference (NSSC), which is held annually every March.

SSPI

Founded in 1983, Space & Satellite Professionals International (www.sspi.org) is on a mission to make the space and satellite industry one of the world’s best at attracting and engaging the talent that powers innovation. With more than 3,700 members in 40 nations, it is the largest space and satellite industry association in the world. It delivers on its mission through programs that promote space and satellite as the invisible but indispensable infrastructure of the modern world, and that help turn individual promise into careers filled with purpose through research, career education for young people, management education for working professionals and talent recognition that spans the industry. SSPI maintains local chapters in the US, UK, Luxembourg, Brazil, Nigeria and Japan.

Useful links

Competition schedule

Resources

Rules & Require	Outline & Requirements	Competition Recommendations
PDR Template	CDR Template	Mission Design Lunar landm

Learn more about the organisers and sponsors

Check it out