This summer Cornell University is offering the 4th annual edition of the SmallSat Mission Design School (SMDS). A collaboration between faculty from Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy, SMDS seeks to provide students with first-hand experience in space mission design. Participants shall develop a mission concept with immediate relevance to NASA’s Decadal Survey science priorities, directed at an upcoming announcement of opportunity for a funded flight program. Students will benefit from the combined expertise of both Cornell faculty and external scientists and engineers working in industry.
Program dates: June 3 – July 12th
Expectations: The program will require 2-4 hours per week preparatory time over the first 5 weeks (including ~2 weekly meetings) and will conclude with an intensive, collaborative design period during the week of July 7-12 with 40 hours of work expected during this time.
Application: click here
Deadline: February 9th at 11:59 P.M. EST; After this deadline, further applications will be considered on a weekly rolling basis if there are spaces available.
Eligibility: The 4th annual edition of the Cornell SmallSat Mission Design School is offered to graduate students and postdocs across the US. Undergraduates enrolled at Cornell with experience on space projects or completion of MAE 4160/4161 are also welcome to apply. All participants must be available for the in-person portion of the program (Cornell Ithaca campus) during the final week (July 7th – 12th).
Funding: Funding for travel to/from Cornell and local lodging may be made available but cannot be guaranteed at this time. Some food will be provided throughout the program, but not all meals.
For additional questions, please contact: smds@cornell.edu
The application is now live. We encourage all students with an interest in space exploration to apply! For additional information, please visit the Cornell SMDS Website
