The course “Space Flight Mechanics” offers an in-depth insight into the mathematical foundations and physical principles of orbital mechanics. The course provides students with the knowledge and skills to calculate satellite orbits and to understand the significance of the various orbital elements and orbital perturbations. In addition, basics such as coordinate systems, the rocket equation, orbital manoeuvres, ground tracks, and the three-body problem are covered. The fundamentals of space flight mechanics are applied in this course to real operational applications such as orbit determination, constellation design, GNSS satellites, cis-lunar transport architectures and interplanetary missions and placed in the context of current missions in the European space programme. This course provides students with a broad range of knowledge and skills to work successfully in the space domain.
Space Flight Mechanics is held every winter term. The course consists of a two-hour lecture per week and includes an accompanying self-study exercise. It is a course from the compulsory elective area III: Electives from the Natural Sciences and Engineering in the Master's programme in Mechanical Engineering with 6 credit points. The lecturer is Dr Florian Renk (Head of the Mission Analysis Section, ESOC), the supervising research assistant is Simon Burgis, M.Sc.
