21st CENTURY EDUCATION AT THE SURREY SPACE CENTRE
- Paper ID
IAF-98-P.2.09
- author
- company
Surrey Space Centre
- country
United Kingdom
- year
1998
- abstract
The requirements for skilled personnel in all areas of the space industry remains high and will continue to grow in the next century. At the recently expanded Surrey Space Centre, innovative methods of education are being developed to meet the demands of the future. The evolution of complete satellite systems from concept, design and construction through to launch and operation phases places the Surrey Space Centre in a unique position to educate the industry leaders of tomorrow. These in-house capabilities provide opportunities for a number of complimentary educational programmes at all stages of the mission lifecycle. Academic and practical disciples are synthesised in the MSc and PhD programmes. The new ‘hands-on’ MSc provides student groups with the opportunity to design and build their own payload based around a standard microsatellite bus. The use of dedicated microsatellite projects allows students to learn the technical fundamentals of spacecraft design in addition to gaining a practical understanding of systems management. PhD research opportunities exist in all areas of spacecraft missions and the results of innovative research are utilised in the commercial activities of the Surrey Space Centre. The Surrey Space Centre also undertakes microsatellite technology transfer and training - thus far involving Korea, Portugal, Pakistan, Chile, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The use of technology transfer provides emerging space faring nations with an unequalled opportunity to establish their own space programmes. The Surrey Space Centre promotes education for the general public in the UK and abroad. The Microsatellite Education Programme aims to provide a dedicated satellite with a separate ground station for every school in the UK. Abroad, projects exist for establishing public access ground station exhibition centres providing access to live telemetry in addition to a wealth of information on satellites and space. Based at the University of Surrey in Guildford, the Surrey Space Centre maintains strong links with the University which has two decades of experience in the research, development and application of small satellites. The integration of innovative academic research through to cost effective commercial utilisation ensures that the Surrey Space Centre continues at the forefront of space education.