Plan a space mission from concept to launch

Planning a space mission from its initial concept through to its design, assembly and take-off is now a reality thanks to the Department of Physics and Astronomy's Space Exploration Systems MSc, which sets students up for a career in the space industry by teaching them the necessary engineering and physics skills to develop space systems and missions from initial concept through to launch.

Among the students who have taken the course is a talented Master’s student from Kurdistan, who will be applying the vital skills and knowledge in space exploration they have learned at our University back to their home country.

Azhen Jarjes, who graduated on Friday 22 January, said: “I chose the University of Leicester because it offered a course that allowed me to follow my dreams, and study space exploration and mission development. I am now taking the experience I have gained at Leicester back to my home country, where I plan to start teaching a similar course in Duhok University next year, to introduce this field of science to students in Kurdistan. The Leicester MSc academics will be supporting me in that work, and we hope to increase links between our Universities in the future.”    

The course is supervised by Drs Nigel Bannister and Richard Ambrosi from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Leicester researchers are currently involved in a number of future space missions including the European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars rover and the ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) Mission to explore the solar system's largest planet and three of its moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.