Space Launch and Transportation Systems

Course Description

This workshop provides an integrated view of space launch and transportation systems (SLaTS) design and operations, from customer needs, objectives and requirements, through launch and transportation system design, development, test and manufacturing to creating operations concepts and infrastructure capabilities. Lifecycle cost and the business case will be assessed. The thrust of the workshop is to identify technical risk and mitigate it in the most cost-effective manner, while maintaining the technical integrity of the vehicle(s) and infrastructure.

The workshop summarizes and amplifies on the efforts of 67 industry and government professionals with over 1000 years – 10 centuries – of collective experience that examined SLaTS design, reducing cost, and cost-effective launch operations. The workshop is packed with wisdom that the space industry has gained over the last 25 years of launch activities, including expendable, unmanned and reusable, crewed vehicles.

In the workshop you will take a fresh look at space launch and transportation systems by emphasizing a process-oriented approach for creating cost-effective concepts to meet customer needs and objectives. The process describes how to translate SLaTS objectives, requirements, and constraints into viable and cost-effective operations concepts. Discussions on vehicle design present practical, detailed approaches and tools to analyze and design manned and unmanned, reusable and expendable vehicles for Earth and other planets, including architecture and configuration, payloads, and vehicle subsystems.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course you should walk away with…

Gain an end-to-end systems engineering perspective on designing, developing, and operating space launch systems and space transportation systems
An emphasis on the design of the entire launch architecture, not just the vehicle
A keen appreciation for strategies to implement cost-effective concepts and designs
A “gut feel” for the complex trade-offs needed to develop a viable SLaTS mission
An organized framework for future space learning—on your own, through academic courses, or future short courses

Course Topics

Introduction Overview of the workshop

SLaTS design process Big picture design process for entire architecture

Creating Alternative SLaTS Concepts and Architectures Sorting the Options

The Operating Environment Hazards and Mitigation Techniques

Launch Vehicle Conceptual Design Characterizing the vehicle concept

Launch Operations Concept and Architecture Creating launch/landing operations concepts

System Engineering Process for SLaTS Development and Operations

Subsystems - Basic Principles, Options, Sizing and Application

Special Topics Manufacturing, transportation, logistics, regulations, cost …

Integrating Examples Space transportation system design and two-stage launch system design

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for a variety of space professionals who must interact with one another to produce, operate and use cost-effective space launch and transportation systems. Participants should include managers of all types, launch and transportation systems and subsystem engineers, designers, analysts, operators and users of launch systems. The material is especially useful to system engineers and project managers of new and existing systems.

Course Materials

Each participant will be receive…

Instructions on how to request a free copy of Space Launch and Transportations Systems: Design and Operations, by Kirkpatrick, Larson, Ryan and Weyers, from the Government Printing Office
A complete set of detailed course notes.
TSTI Alumni status allowing on-line access to course materials, including tools and videos through the Student Lounge

Testimonials

"A comprehenisive overview of launch system design"
"Great course...communicates the complexity of design"
"Now I am officially a rocket scientist"