Spacecraft Engineering Focus

Exploring space, the prospect of traveling beyond the confines of Earth inspires many engineers like no other endeavor. This degree will appeal to those with a passion for spacecraft. Along with the early contributions of Newton, Kepler, Euler, and Hamilton, the past century of practical, predictive, and speculative work in space travel constitutes a body of work that can guide us toward new discoveries.

The spacecraft engineering-focused MEng Degree is all about how to build spacecraft--and why. It is designed to extend an undergraduate aerospace or mechanical engineering degree to allow students to focus on conceiving, designing, implementing, and operating satellites, rockets, and other space systems. At Cornell, faculty research groups in this area are addressing formation flight, space-borne robots, celestial mechanics, space propulsion, space-system architecture, adaptive control, and in-orbit inspection and repair. MEng students at Cornell have participated in the design and construction of four spacecraft (the ICE Cubesat, two CUSat inspection satellites, and the Violet satellite) and the development of high-agility space-borne robotic arms. Programs like these and others are available for MEng research projects.

An artist’s rendering of the deployment of ChipSats from a shoebox-sized CubeSat. NASA has confirmed that in March short telemetry signals from the ChipSats were received by a ground station at Cornell.

Cracker-sized satellites demonstrate new space tech

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Dozens of oil tankers and commercial cargo ships line up at Great Bitter Lake to enter the Suez Canal in this March 25 satellite image provided by Ursa Space.

Cosmos unveils space-tech business, science opportunities

Star trails are pictured over Gemini North, located near Hilo, Hawaii. The observatory will be home to the Gemini Planet Imager, which is being upgraded by a team that includes assistant professor Dmitry Savransky.

Telescope upgrade, move will aid in search for exoplanets

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Swati Mohan '04 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission control on Feb. 18, prior to the Perseverance landing.

‘Touchdown confirmed’: Swati Mohan ’04 called Mars landing

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More information:

Courses

A Sample Curriculum

There is no required program of courses, this is just a possible model

Fall

MAE 5065 Introduction to Spaceflight Mechanics (3 cr)

MAE 6060 Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics, Estimation, and Control (3 cr)

MAE 5930 Systems Eng. & Six Sigma for Design and Operation of Reliable Systems (4 cr)

MAE 6540 Space Propulsion Physics and Engineering (3 cr)

MAE 6900 MEng Project (3 cr)

Spring

MAE 5160 Spacecraft Technology and Systems Architecture (4 cr)

MAE 6530 Space Exploration Engineering (3 cr)

MAE 6940 Professional Development for MEng in MAE (1 cr)

NBA 5070 Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers (3 cr)

MAE 6900 MEng Project (3 cr)

A Sample of Other Possible Courses

There are hundreds of courses to choose from, this is just a short list to give you an idea of what is available. The courses you take will be based on your specific goals.

GPS: Theory and Design, Intermediate Dynamics and Vibrations, Feedback Control Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Advanced Dynamics, Model-Based Estimation, Multivariable Control Theory, Digital Signal Processing, Digital Feedback Control, Theory of Linear Systems, Autonomous Mobile Robots, Computer Vision, Introduction to Plasma Physics, Introduction to Cosmology, Physics of the Planets, Celestial Mechanics, Remote Sensing Fundamentals, Introduction to Controlled Fusion: Principles and Technology, Future Energy Systems, Adaptive and Learning Systems

Faculty

Faculty teaching in the spacecraft engineering

Mason Peck

Stephen J. Fujikawa '77 Professor of Astronautical Engineering

Elaine Petro

Assistant Professor

Astro Lab

Timothy Sands

Professor of Practice in Space Systems

Dmitry Savransky