Space mission engineering

What Hacker News says

1. thadjonesApr 2026
   I develop spacecraft architectures for work and the spacecraft design bible is Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD [1]. While much of the information in SMAD can be generalized to cubesats it is focused primarily on larger missions, so its nice to see a book focused on the cubesat space. Briefly flipping through this text, I'm pleasantly surprised at how much theory and context is packed in with application and analysis. The fact that its a free download is such a bonus!

   I've been slowly building out a webapp [2] that allows people to design a satellite from scratch, and this book provides a lot of the key technical analyses in a really approachable way. As I build out more of the system trades and analysis modules, I'll definitely be referencing this text to make sure the tools can be utilized from the cubesat perspective.

   [1]: https://astrobooks.com/spacemissionengineeringthenewsmadsme-...

   [2]: https://vesperastro.com

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2. austinprater11Aug 2023
   You've selected one of the drier texts out there. If you want to read something with some chutzpah, that's actually used in the industry, check out SME (https://www.amazon.com/Space-Mission-Engineering-Technology-...)
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3. pocketstarFeb 2018
   SpaceFlight.com can handle the launch. Why do you want a LEO orbit, there might be better orbits for your mission? You'll probably want a radhard processor instead of a Pi Zero. You will also need Batteries, Thermal, Attitude Determination and Control, RF and antennas...minimum budget is probably $1M including launch for a "server in space" mission. There is a lot that goes into making a spacecraft. A good book to pick up is SMAD[0]. Reach out to me if you have the resources, I'd be happy to help.

   [0]https://www.amazon.com/Space-Mission-Engineering-Technology-...

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4. bmcooleyApr 2017
   SMAD - "Space Mission Analysis and Design". The latest edition is "Space Mission Engineering - The New SMAD".
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5. 32factionNov 2014
   We used the Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD by Wertz, Everett, and Puschell for my senior capstone project.

   It's pretty comprehensive about all things involved about space missions.

   You would specifically want to look into its chapter about launch vehicles since that is what SpaceX does (they're basically launch-to-orbit-as-a-service). Dragon is their payload capsule while the Falcon is the launch vehicle (the rocket).

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