Small satellite design at the UPM Master in Space Systems (MUSE)

Resumen

The Master in Space Systems (Máster Universitario en Sistemas Espaciales – MUSE) at UPM (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) is an academic program organized at Instituto Universitario de Microgravedad “Ignacio Da Riva” (IDR/UPM) research institute. This is a 2-year Project Based Learning (PBL) master program which started in 2014. Since the first year of the MUSE, the students have participated actively in the development and construction of the UPMSat-2, an educational, scientific and in-orbit technological demonstration 50 kg-class microsatellite launched on September 2nd, 2020. Students from MUSE have participated in all phases of the mission, from the design of subsystems to in-orbit operation, and including integration, calibration, and testing. In the present work, the most relevant characteristics of this master program are described, the importance of the satellite’s design and development within the academic tasks being emphasized. Graduated MUSE students have a high employment rate in the most prestigious space engineering companies and institutions in Spain and other countries in Europe (ESA, AIRBUS-CRISA, INTA, GMV, DHV,...). Besides, a quite large percentage of the graduated students from MUSE continue their education with a Ph.D. These reasons have made MUSE the most successful academic program in Spain regarding space systems engineering.