Learning and assessment
This programme will be taught at our campus in Bradford.
Each 20-credit module will be delivered as follows:
- One full week of face-to-face teaching by an external expert
- One full week of teaching in a lecture theatre, co-delivered by the external expert (potentially remotely) and the module coordinator (on campus)
- One full week of on-campus tutorials/workshops/seminars and/or team-based project work. The latter forms a part of the module assessment
You will be assessed through a combination of coursework projects and examinations.
External experts
This programme benefits from the expert input of a number of external contributors, including:
Dr Hector Fenech
Independent consultant, module leader - Satellite Communications Systems.
Former Director of Future Satellite Systems in Eutelsat. Responsible for module design and delivery.
Professor Marco Lisi
Module leader - Satellite Navigation Systems.
Former European Space Agency special advisor in the Navigation Directorate, and Chief Technical Advisor to the Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency. Responsible for module design and delivery.
Dr Franco Saverio Rubertone
Independent consultant, module leader - Satellite Earth Observation Systems.
Former Director at Thales Alenia Space Italia in earth observation satellite design and delivery. Responsible for module design and delivery.
Study support
You will benefit from a suite of digital teaching and collaborative platforms supported by the University including CANVAS, Horizon, and Teams. You will be taught by a team of top industrial experts, who have ample experience in space engineering.
You will be assigned a personal tutor - a member of the teaching staff, to help maximise your success and sense of belonging among the academic community at Bradford. Personal tutors will provide academic guidance, support your professional and personal development, provide initial advice, and signpost to career guidance and other services offered by the Faculty and University.
Research
The programme team enjoys a long research track record in satellite systems engineering, and strong, well-established collaborations with space agencies and satellite key operators.
The team has been a part of the Satellite Network of Excellence (SatNEx) since 2004, funded first by the European Union and currently by the European Space Agency.
In the 1980s, research initially focused on communications, most notably satellite-earth propagation and antennae design. Since the 1990s, integration of satellites into terrestrial mobile networks and their application into the transport infrastructure, including air traffic management and railways, has continued to be the main focus of research up to the present day.
During the 2000s, space research at the University has expanded to include satellite imaging and remote sensing to study, for example, space weather, and observation. The University satellite imaging and AI research activities resulted in the development of the Automated Solar Activity Prediction (ASAP) system, in collaboration with NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). ASAP works with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, and is among the UK's space weather assets. It is integrated into NASA's space weather portal, and is used as a decision-making tool for NASA's robotic missions and radiation effects on NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory orbit, and is acknowledged as an international benchmark.
Research opportunities
Potential short-term research opportunities will be available to work alongside our post-doctoral researchers or PhD students on externally funded research projects.
