Home Courses Spacecraft Technology Course materials Readings 2.1 Introduction, learning objectives and content available in full course

2.1 Introduction, learning objectives and content available in full course

Course subject(s) 2. Rocket & Onboard Propulsion

Introduction

How do you “move” a spacecraft when it is in orbit? And how do you actually send a spacecraft to its final orbit?

The answer is simple: by means of a propulsion system! Whether it is a tiny, miniaturized thruster installed on a Cubesat, or a big, noisy and powerful engine on a rocket, the general principles on which it works are basically the same.

In this unit, you will learn about the basics of space propulsion, the various types of propulsion available, and a simplified set of equations (the Ideal Rocket Theory) that can be used to preliminary characterize the performance of most  types of propulsion systems. You will also take a closer look at liquid and solid propellant engines.

My advice is to be curious, ask questions and “use” your teacher and his expertise in the field as much as you can.

Good luck!

Angelo

 

Learning objectives/outcomes

By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

  • Characterize the key performance parameters of different types of propulsion systems and compare the values obtained by ideal theory to the real-life ones
  • Formulate the technical principles of rocket propulsion systems
  • Identify the technology state-of-the-art, the available propulsion options and their physical and technical limitations
  • Perform a preliminary design of the propulsion system of a spacecraft or rocket
Learning Activities (to do’s)

  • Watch the lecture videos
  • Practice with the “to do”‘s proposed at the end of each video (reflections on the contents presented in the video)
  • Read the lecture notes and/or surf through the lecture slides
  • After having watched and understood all the study material, try the exercises in the Maple TA assignment
  • Attend the class (or online) session
  • Attend the CubeSat Workshop (see dedicated learning unit)

Additional material in full course

  • Four more video lectures
  • Exercise quiz on all of the six lectures on this topic
Creative Commons License
Linear Modelling by TU Delft OpenCourseWare is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://ocw.tudelft.nl/courses/spacecraft-technology/.
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