SPACETECH INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION IN SPACE SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS ENGINEERING

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1 SPACETECH INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION IN SPACE SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS ENGINEERING F. de Bruijn, E. Gill*, E. Ashford + Program Coordinator SpaceTech, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands, f.j.debruijn@tudelft.nl, ph.: +31 (15) , fax: +31 (15) * Chair of Space Systems Engineering (SSE), Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands, e.k.a.gill@tudelft.nl, ph.: +31 (15) , fax: +31 (15) Ashford Aerospace Consulting, White Eagle Court 9112, Raleigh, NC 27617, United States, ed.ashford@eashford.com, ph.: Abstract This paper describes the SpaceTech program, a postgraduate program which aims to provide the best education in space systems and business engineering worldwide, which focuses on mid-career working professionals and is structured around a real-life engineering challenge, the Central Case Project. SpaceTech is an international postgraduate master s program for experienced high potentials, seeking expertise in space systems and business engineering. This flexible 10-month program is organized in five 2-week sessions that take place in attractive space centers in Europe. The SpaceTech program has been in operation for over ten years and is one of the few executive training programs specializing in space systems and business engineering and is internationally recognized for training of future leaders in the space field. SpaceTech has successfully created a multicultural multidisciplinary network and teaching environment that attracts a number of well-known, well-respected and highly competent faculty members as well as participants from many parts of the world. It is a truly international institution. Upon successful completion of the SpaceTech program, participants receive a Master s degree in space systems engineering awarded by the prestigious Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). Participants of the SpaceTech program are professionals with, on average, a working experience between 5 and 15 years. By participating in the SpaceTech program, they gain high technical competences and increase their business skills. Other benefits include development of management and leadership capabilities, the ability to work in an international environment, remote and on-site, as well as building an easy accessible global network. The program is organized such that it allows high potentials to participate with minimum disturbance to their normal jobs. The program has a carefully selected content which consist of seven modules: Space Mission Analysis & Design, advanced Systems Engineering, Business Engineering, Interpersonal Skills & Leadership Development and the traditional space applications, Earth Observation, Telecommunication and Navigation.

2 The heart of the SpaceTech program is the Central Case Project (CCP), which is an end-to-end design project that aims at the formation of a credible, virtual, space-related business. The CCP is a learning laboratory were the participants work in a truly international and multicultural team. It allows participants to exercise space systems engineering fundamentals as well as marketing and business engineering tools. Participants learn to link mission and system design to the potential return to investors. They develop an instinct for the technical concepts and which of the parameters to tweak to make their newly conceived business more effective and profitable. It also forms a learning laboratory where participants can put their taught interpersonal skills into practice. SpaceTech is a program organized by the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of TU Delft. Besides the core organization, the SpaceTech program incorporates a number of additional bodies to maintain the high quality and standards of the program. The Curriculum Committee (CCC) directs SpaceTech s day-to-day program development and is composed of leading experts in the taught disciplines. Instructors of the SpaceTech program are highly experienced professionals with hands-on experience in the taught disciplines. Besides the CCC, the Advisory Board (AB) helps to guide the program by advising on the specifics of the constantly changing needs of industry and agencies for space systems engineers and to improve the awareness of SpaceTech in industry and agencies worldwide. Next to this, SpaceTech also has an Alumni Association (AA) which is open to all SpaceTech graduates. In ad to the yearly SpaceTech refresher s symposium, the AA organizes informal events where alumni can stay in touch with each other and with the program and can further expand their global network. INTRODUCTION Most graduate school masters degree programs are heavily oriented toward students which have recently received their Bachelors degrees, and which plan to pursue their advanced degree(s) before entering the job pool for their life-long employment. Indeed, this is at least partially due to the fact that, once becoming employed full-time in industry, they become fully embroiled with their jobs, and cannot then spare the time to take a year or more leave of absence from their jobs to get a masters degree. While many companies will support their employees either with time off or with financial help in getting an advanced degree, few are willing to lose an employee for the length of time normally needed to obtain one as a full time student. This is particularly true where the individuals involved have risen in their organizations to key positions by virtue of their innate abilities and hard work. Obtaining an advanced degree through normal part-time study, however, often takes a number of years of evening and/or weekend classes, and many who begin such an endeavor eventually drop out before attaining their graduate degree. In the middle of the 1990s, this situation was recognized by the management of the European Space Agency, which had a particular interest in obtaining (and retaining) staff of the highest caliber to initiate and to manage ESA's space programs. One ESA staff member in particular, Heinz Stoewer, who worked at ESA's technology center in the Netherlands, ESTEC and who was also at that time a Professor of Space Systems Engineering at the Technical University of Delft nearby, discussed the situation with the University's upper management in 1995, and between ESA and TUD the SPACETECH program was born [1].

3 SPACETECH CONCEPT The SPACETECH curriculum is taught in a total of only ten weeks of actual classroom instruction. These ten weeks are, however, divided into five two-week sessions, spread out over some ten months, with the sessions interspersed by periods of from six to eight weeks during which the participants can return to their normal jobs. Thus, under most circumstances, the participants can continue to carry out the duties of their jobs to the satisfaction of their employers at the same time they are earning a fully accredited Masters of Space Systems Engineering degree, awarded by TUD. Each two-week session is quite intensive, with classes in the first three sessions taught for six days/week, with a total of over 50 hours/week of actual classroom lectures and exercises. Table 1 gives an overview of the sessions, topics covered and typical session locations. Table 1: Session locations, topics & timing Session Location Topics Timeframe Business Engineering Delft/ 1 TU Delft Space Mission Analysis & Design September Interpersonal Skills & Leadership Development Toulouse/ CNES Munich area/ DLR Frascati/ ESRIN Noordwijk/ ESTEC Earth Observation Telecommunication Interpersonal Skills& Leadership Development Central Case Project Systems Engineering Navigation Interpersonal Skills& Leadership Development Central Case Project Launchers Interpersonal Skills& Leadership Development Central Case Project Central Case Project November/ December February April/ May June/ July The sessions are divided up into modules, whose lectures cover basically five different theme areas of instruction: Space Mission Analysis and Design, covering all aspects of unmanned missions and systems: orbit analysis, the design principles of satellites and their subsystems, the interrelationships between these, and the preliminary design principles upon which payloads for communications, earth observations, and navigations satellites are based. It also covers the impact of the ground segment and mission operations on the overall mission and teaches how to include these already in the preliminary design phase. System Engineering Principles and Tools, including mission definition, requirements definition and flow down, concept of operations, system and mission architectures, technical planning, configuration management, etc. Space Applications, from the physical principles involved to the detailed design and analysis of satellite systems used for communications, earth observation and remote sensing, as well as navigation.

4 Business Engineering, covering program financing, market definition, research and analysis, business case development, cost estimating and analysis, risk management, program and resource management, space law, space insurance, etc. Interpersonal Skills and Leadership Development, including team building and team management, conflict resolution, personal communications, effective presentation skills, etc. In addition to the classroom instruction, a major part of the efforts of the participants is devoted to the Central Case Project (CCP). This is a design project in which participants work as a team to design an end-to-end market oriented satellite based system. All of the skills taught in the classroom are put into action in the definition, development, reporting, and presentation of the CCP results. The contact hours associated with the classroom instruction and CCP are broken down as indicated in table 2. The 500 in-class contact hours shown in table 2 is approximately equal to that of 13 threesemester hour graduate level courses. In addition, between sessions, students work together (via Internet, Skype, etc.) on the joint Central Case Project, the final report of which constitutes their joint thesis for the Masters Degree. Participants are also required to study and take their exams at home. Table 2: Breakdown of course hours Topic Hours Space Mission Analysis & Design 40 Systems Engineering 36 Business Engineering 50 Systems Engineering 126 Foundations Telecommunication 36 Earth Observation 36 Navigation 36 Space Applications 108 Interpersonal Skills & 36 Leadership Development Central Case Project 230 Total in-class hours 500 Their time working on this is reported, and each student is expected to put in at least 550 hours outside of class in completing their portions of the CCP development, final report, presentation and exam preparation. The total course then amounts to 1050 hours spread over some 42 weeks, or about 25 hours/week on average. The above mentioned average of 25 hours per week is misleading, however. Since the format of the SpaceTech curriculum is that it is taught in five sessions of two weeks duration each, with five to six weeks between sessions, the actual instruction hours per in-class week is more than twice as high. The content of the SpaceTech program is thoroughly evaluated each year. Evaluation of the content by SpaceTech participants has proven to be of incredible value. SpaceTech aims to improve its curriculum and aim to adapt it to the changing needs in the market for postgraduate space education. Recent developments in the program content have led to an updated module on Telecommunications (2006) and updated Earth Observation module (2008) and, per the request

5 of a number of stakeholders, SpaceTech will also provide a set of lectures on launch vehicles and their selection and design as of In addition to this, the SpaceTech program also took the initiative in the formation of a Virtual Space Academy, with the goal of coordinating space education for post-graduate students and professionals and to realize cross-fertilization between the programs to enhance and stimulate space education worldwide [2]. CENTRAL CASE PROJECT The Central Case Project (CCP) provides a learning laboratory for participants to explore and use the competencies learned in the SPACETECH program i.e. space-related markets, space systems engineering, inter-personal skills, business engineering and applications. It is a highly team oriented activity, allowing Participants to exercise their skills and leadership capabilities as part of a close-knit international and intercultural team. During the CCP process, each Participant is placed at least once into a position of leadership in the team, responsible for ensuring that the team meets certain pre-set goals for that phase, so that all Participants can exercise the leadership skills learned during the course. During the CCP, participants perform an abbreviated market analysis to identify one or more commercially oriented, space-related products or services. They develop a business concept that is then translated into mission objectives and an appropriate mission concept. From this point on the team completes the conceptual design of a business case and the associated space and ground assets to provide the necessary products or services to identified customers and users. Participants exercise the space systems engineering fundamentals with the goal of creating a financially viable business opportunity that they present to a varied group of engineers and managers from the space community in the form of an unsolicited proposal to potential investors. During the CCP, participants learn the ties between mission and system design and investor expectations. They develop an instinct for the technical concepts and parameters to adjust to Figure 1: A typical setup of the SpaceTech class

6 make their newly conceived business profitable and feasible. The Central Case Project hence serves as a concrete and practical means to apply and test systems engineering techniques in a real-life environment. Participants learn to think and work by way of a practical, end-to-end example - beginning with customer needs to create a commercially viable space-based product or service. SPACETECH S PARTICIPANTS The development of today s complex satellite systems and their component parts and services requires competent systems engineering expertise in order to minimize risk and complete the task economically. Successful systems engineering, in turn, requires sensitivity to strategic business requirements and business models. Market leadership can be greatly facilitated by coupling systems engineering competence with knowledge of business planning and strategy. In addition, team leaders, project managers and business executives need to know how to build teams and to motivate them to succeed. Key benefits include: Delivery of the programme is an efficient and cost-effective method for educating promising employees Participants receive coaching from select industry experts with exceptional, proven teaching skills Enhanced global competitiveness Participants are equipped to successfully deal with complex systems engineering and business issues The application of lessons learned across international boundaries A non-threatening, multicultural learning laboratory (Central Case Project) The cultivation of long-lasting international networks SpaceTech participants are, on average, mid-career professionals with a working experience between 5 and 15 years. Participants are those who seek expertise in space systems and space business engineering, often with the goal to become systems engineers, project managers or line managers in their respective companies. In addition to those benefits listed above, advantages to participants include: A condensed one year program, leading to a highly respected Master's degree, with the possibility of further studies later, leading to a PhD The flexibility to work in parallel with current work-related responsibilities The attainment of knowledge and skills required to assume more advanced roles within an organization An active network that offers unique services and events to graduates in the effort to foster continual career development SPACETECH ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The SpaceTech program falls under the umbrella of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the Delft University of Technology. The SpaceTech Program Director has the end responsibility for the program content and chairs the Curriculum Committee. The Curriculum Committee (CCC) forms the heart of the SpaceTech program and directs the SpaceTech day-to-day program development. The CCC is composed of leading experts in systems engineering and other space disciplines, all with hands-on experience in their disciplines in an international space

7 environment. Each Curriculum Committee member has the responsibility for one of modules taught in SpaceTech (i.e. Space Mission Analysis and Design, Business Engineering, etc.) and directs their group of instructors. The Program Director forms, together with the Program Manager, two Program Officers, and the Marketing Director, the backbone of the organization around the SpaceTech program. The SpaceTech program is organized with strong support of the Delft University of Technology. Figure 2 shows an organization chart of the SpaceTech organization. Dean Faculty AE Program Manager (General Secretary) Program Director Core Curriculum Committee Marketing Director Advisory Board Financial Administrator (TopTech) Alumni Association Program Officers (2 Student) Figure 2: Organogram of the ST organization Besides the core organization of the program, SpaceTech also incorporates an Advisory Board (AB). The AB consists of a group of individuals who help guide the program in two ways. First they advise on the specifics of the constantly changing needs of industry and agencies for space systems engineer competences, and second, they advise on the best ways for SpaceTech to make itself known to industry and agencies worldwide. These rather disparate roles account for the fact that the AB members come from at least two different levels in their companies or organizations, either at mid-career engineering manager level or at senior executive level. The former are often best positioned to recognize in real time the particular systems engineering needs in their organization and the latter have more knowledge and experience on how to reach the decision makers in the space field that will be the ones agreeing to participation by their employees. Besides the AB meetings, the AB members often attend the CCP presentations of the participants, as well as the social events organized around it. Next to this, SpaceTech also has an alumni association. The SpaceTech Alumni Association is open to all SpaceTech graduates. Figure 3 shows a graphical representation of the distribution of alumni in terms of nationality. The alumni association organizes informal events where alumni have a chance to stay in touch with each other, as well as with the SpaceTech organization and the current participants. The alumni association also organizes, together with SpaceTech, an annual Symposium, which is typically held at ESTEC. During this symposium representative cases from the space industry and related service sectors are presented, highlighting their most important systems engineering aspects.

8 The organizational structure of SpaceTech allows participants easy-access to a very valuable global network in the space industry, from which they can benefit during their participation as well as in their future careers. greek, 1 canadian, 2 polish, 1 russian, 1 Egyptian, 1 South African, 1 norwegian, 1 swiss, 2 english, 3 indonesian, 5 german, 42 spanish, 8 american, 10 dutch, 10 italian, 23 french, 15 Figure 3: Nationalities of the ST alumni CONCLUSION SpaceTech is one of the few executive training programs in the world specializing in international space system engineering education and is internationally recognized for its contributions to the development of future leaders in the field. SpaceTech has successfully created a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary network and teaching environment that attracts a number of well-known, well-respected and highly competent faculty as well as participants from many parts of the world - a truly 'international' institution. End-to-end systems competence is crucial in all of today's space ventures. This end-to-end process starts with clearly understanding customer and market demands and continues with the design of a competitive product made up of space, ground, and service elements. Performance, time-to-market, life-cycle cost, safety and user satisfaction are driving parameters in this process. The SpaceTech program combines systems engineering and business intelligence with the objective of improving client competitiveness in world markets. Our group Central Case Project is the backbone of the program. It is a focused project, aimed at the virtual set-up of a credible commercial space-related business. Participants exercise space systems engineering fundamentals together with marketing and business engineering tools, with the goal of creating a financially viable business opportunity. They then present this, in the form of an unsolicited proposal to potential investors, to a varied group of engineers, managers, and executives from the space community. During the Central Case Project, participants learn the connections between mission and system design and the potential return to investors. They develop an instinct for the technical concepts and for which of these parameters to adjust to make their newly conceived business more profitable. Furthermore, this is where the personal skills are put into practice.

9 Thus, the development of the CCP teaches participants how to apply the systems engineering concepts and strategies learned during classroom instruction to actual industry-related situations. SpaceTech provides a unique opportunity for space professionals from all technical disciplines, and selected non-technical disciplines, to obtain a fully accredited Masters Degree in Space Systems Engineering from the prestigious Delft University of Technology in only 10 months, while still being able to maintain their normal jobs. Furthermore, it provides the means of developing an international network of friends and colleagues which is increasingly important in the interconnected and multi-national environment in which space development increasingly operates. REFERENCES [1] de Bruijn F., Ashford E., Larson W.; SpaceTech Postgraduate Space Education; International Astronautical Congress; IAC-07-E.1.4, Bangalore India (2007). [2] E. Gill, G. Chiocchia, B. Escudier, M. Lisi, H. Stoewer, F. de Bruijn Integrated Post-graduate Space Education and Training, ICERI, Madrid, Spain (2008