The Illustrated Spacecraft Systems Engineering Handbook

You know the subsystems. But can you make them work as one spacecraft?

Most engineers learn power, thermal, propulsion and communications in separate courses. Then the first real project arrives, and a “small” change to the payload data rate suddenly affects the battery, the radiator, the antenna and the ground schedule. Nobody taught you to see that coming.

This book does.

The Illustrated Spacecraft Systems Engineering Handbook teaches you to think like the systems engineer in the room. You’ll follow one Earth-observation satellite, the RM-1 reference mission, from its first vague mission need to its final disposal burn. Along the way you’ll write testable requirements, close mass and power budgets, size solar arrays and batteries, build link budgets, plan verification, and make decisions you can defend.

Inside you’ll find:

• More than 110 illustrations, from orbit geometry and spacecraft cutaways to test set-ups and trade-study charts
• Worked examples using real numbers, with every step shown
• Practice problems with full answer keys in all 17 chapters
• Modern practice: MBSE, constellations, FDIR, commissioning and responsible end of life

The proof is in the failures. Mars Climate Orbiter was lost to a units mismatch. Ariane 5 broke apart over reused software. Genesis crashed because sensors were installed upside down. Each of these is a “When It Went Wrong” case in this book, and you’ll see exactly which systems engineering discipline would have caught it.

Whether you’re a student, an early-career engineer, or a specialist stepping into a systems role, this is the satellite design reference you’ll keep open on your desk.

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