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Satellite Systems Engineering

MSc

Scholarships of £10,000 are available to eligible full-time UK/international students of this course.


Full-time

2024 - 2025

Duration

Start date

Location

Suitable for applications.

Book a place on our Open Day

Entry requirements

2:2 or above in electrical and electronics engineering, telecommunications engineering, computer science, physics, or mathematics, from an approved degree awarding body.

Candidates who do not fulfil the normal entry requirements but have extensive industrial experience in a related area, for example: communications and RF engineers, satellite engineers, computer scientists/software programmers, physicists, will be considered on an individual basis.

English language requirements

Minimum IELTS 6.0 or equivalent, with at least 5.5 in each subtest or GCSE English Language at grade C/4.

If you do not meet the IELTS requirement, and you have a UKVI approved IELTS, you can take a University of Bradford pre-sessional English course. See the Language Centre for more details. For further information on English Language requirements please see the dedicated international entry requirements page.

Learning and assessment

This programme will be taught at our campus in Bradford.

Each 20-credit module will be delivered through 2-hour weekly lectures, scheduled seminars (including delivery by industry experts), project supervision, tutorials, and in a laboratory (where applicable).

You will be assessed through a group project (including an oral presentation), individual reports, and open-book 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.

This is the current course information. Modules and course details may change, subject to the University's programme approval, monitoring and review procedures. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities as described on our website without notice and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges at any time. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study.