Starting 1996 student workshops with international participation were held at SSDW home campus, at the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) of the University of Stuttgart, as well as the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, "Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Aéronautique et de l'Espace" (Supaero) in Toulouse, France, at the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France, and at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia.
These workshops have the primary objectives of giving the participating students the opportunity to learn and practice systems engineering and design on a space related subject, to directly apply the knowledge acquired during the space station lectures and related lecture series, and to participate in an international and multidisciplinary team-based design project. As a consequence, the participants should not only be knowledgeable about space stations and human space exploration in general, but they are also expected to fully commit themselves to their tasks during the workshops, in order to play a valuable role in their respective design teams. Another important factor for the success of an integrated SSDW design team is that all members are open-minded towards other cultures and personalities. Social competence becomes as important as a good knowledge of technical issues.
For an overview over past SSDW workshops and results, see this file.
The tools used for the SSDW consist of custom-developed software dedicated to space mission conceptual design and simulation as well as commercially-available, general-purpose software. Together, they allow for intuitive development and iterative assessment of the space mission design.
Every team at SSDW is composed by specialists of different areas. All working together during a whole week to achieve the best possible design. Each team is composed by, at least, one of the following specialist:
In the last years, the Space Station Design Workshop focused on mission concepts for a space station in cis-lunar space and feasible habitats on the lunar surface. In 2017 edition, two interdisciplinary teams composed of international students and young professionals, supported by experts from industries and universities, were challenged to investigate and evaluate different scenarios for a manned platform in the Martian system. Crucial criteria for the assessment were given, such as interests of leading space agencies, scientific output, public outreach, complexity and feasibility.
Our team purpose was focused on a permanent crewed base station on Mars Surface. Within a week, we desgined the whole mission. Some of the key-points of our design were: