past workshops

After the online SSDW in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart could finally again welcome 42 students and young professionals from all over the world to join the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) at the end of July 2022. Within one week, the two groups analyzed, designed, and developed their concepts for this year’s mission. For the first time in SSDW history, the teams did not have the same assignment – they were conceptualizing one lunar-based manufacturing and construction system together. However, they were still evaluated separately, while the teamwork within and between the two teams was considered.

Team Red designed an orbital space station (the LUnar Manufacturing Outpost) around the Moon which uses in-space manufacturing techniques. Team Blue on the other hand designed a lunar base (the Habitable Autonomous Dirt Extraction System BASE) that can extract and process lunar material which can later also be used on the orbital station. The general goal of the SSDW 2022 was to analyze the possibility of a lunar economy infrastructure, independent from terrestrial resources, that could function as a steppingstone for further exploration missions to Mars and beyond.

The technical program was accompanied by team-building events and social activities such as a night in the Planetarium Stuttgart and competitions between both teams. These activities supported both the motivation within the two teams as well as the teamwork as one workshop group together. Especially the Mystery Meeting was a special treat in a stressful week.

With a new design for the SSDW’s website and social media and with a new organizational team behind the workshop we were happy to achieve such a successful workshop!

Thanks again to all experts, supporters, and sponsors – and of course to all participants of the SSDW 2022!

For the first time ever, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stuttgart Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) was held completely online. Our organizers spent months in developing the online environment for our participants and experts to enjoy during the workshop. With such a preparation our first ever virtual SSDW was a full success!

Within one week, two interdisciplinary teams of 25 students and young professionals each, from all over the world, analyzed, designed and developed their concepts for this year’s mission. In this workshop the teams should come up with a permanently crewed lunar base on the surface of the moon. This base should be self-sustaining and feature a radio telescope to enhance astronomical physics sciences among other things.

The workshop kicked-off with fun activities and games, so that the participants and experts had a chance to get to know each other as well as the virtual environment they would call home for the next week. These fun events were followed by lectures from experts and of course the design process that is the scope of the workshop. Without the commitment of individuals, sponsors and supporters this workshop would not have been possible. Therefore, the Institute of Space Systems would like to thank again all parties for their efforts.

This workshop was supported by the DAAD.

From 21st to 27th of July 2019, 40 students and young professionals followed the invitation of the Institute of Space Systems of the University of Stuttgart to the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) 2019. Within one week, the two interdisciplinary teams composed of 20 international participants, supported by experts from industries and universities, tackled the challenge of performing a conceptual design of a permanently manned habitat inside the Venusian atmosphere. Primary objectives of the concept were the provision of infrastructure for the crew and scientific experiments to better understand the Venusian surface and atmosphere. Furthermore, In-Situ resource utilization was integrated as much as possible to minimize expensive Earth-Venus cargo transport.

The workshop begun with the SpaceUp Stuttgart 2019 as a kick-off event. This unconference and the whole week of the workshop would not been possible without the commitment of individuals, sponsors and supporters. Therefore, the Institute of Space Systems would like to thank again all parties for their efforts.

From 22nd to 28th of July 2018, 40 students and young professionals followed the invitation of the Institute of Space Systems of the University of Stuttgart to the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) 2018. Within one week, the two interdisciplinary teams composed of 20 international and interdisciplinary participants, supported by experts from industries and universities, tackled the challenge of performing a conceptual design of a permanently manned habitat in the South Pole area of the Moon.

The workshop and the SpaceUp would not have been possible without the commitment of individuals and the support from sponsors. Therefore, the Institute of Space Systems would like to thank Astos Solutions, Christian Bürkert Stiftung, TESAT Spacecom and Valispace.

The technical program was accompanied by team building events and social activities such as the Design Thinking session on Sunday or visits of the local Planetarium and the city center on Monday and Tuesday.

For the first time in its history, the SSDW 2017 challenged its participants with a mission statement aiming for Mars: As employees of the fictive private company called Exploration and Development Enterprise (EDEN) both teams formed two individual Mars-Task-Forces with the assignment to survey and investigate different options to establish an international human tended platform in the vicinity of Mars. After performing a trade-off study of different mission scenarios, a comprehensive study of the selected scenario was carried out.

After 2016, the SSDW started with a very successful SpaceUp unconference with over 100 participants from industry, academia and agencies. The SpaceUp ended in the late afternoon with the launch of water bottle rockets, constructed within one hour by the SSDW participants.

The workshop and the SpaceUp would not have been possible without the commitment of individuals and the support from sponsors. Therefore, the Institute of Space Systems would like to thank Airbus Defense and Space, Association of Space Explorers, Astos Solutions, HE Space, and TESAT Spacecom.

The technical program was accompanied by team building events and social activities such as the spaghetti-marshmallow challenge or night outs in Stuttgart. These activities supported both the motivation of the participants and the teamwork.

It’s the year 2025 – the ISS is coming to the end of science operations. No successor station has been established so far. The journey to Mars is a vision of the future. To make it happen, the technology of in-situ resource utilization must be addressed primarily. In addition to enabling sustainable deep space missions, ISRU on the Moon shall be used to re-supply current spacecraft and demonstrate new technology for upcoming Mars missions. Hence the SSDW 2016 investigated the opportunities of on-orbit manufacturing and ressource processing on board a space station in cis-lunar space.

The SSDW started with a SpaceUp unconference at the IRS. Amongst the 100 participants were leading experts from ESA and DLR, SSDW candidates, local students and professionals from Stuttgart and visitors from all over Germany. The workshop and the SpaceUp would not have been possible without the commitment of individuals and the support from sponsors. Therefore, the Institute of Space Systems would like to thank Airbus Defense and Space, Astos Solutions, OHB, the ISS Crew, HE Space, TESAT Spacecom and ThalesAlenia Space.

Again, two competing teams developed concepts for the next space station. The international and interdisciplinary aspect of the workshop was addressed again with 40 participating students and young professionals from all over the world with diverse backgrounds in engineering, biology and economics. For the first time in the history of the SSDW, two inner architecture students enriched the concepts with a new perspective on the design of a human-rated platform in space.

The technical program was accompanied by team building events and social activities such as the spaghetti-marshmallow challenge or night outs in Stuttgart. These activities supported both the motivation of the participants and the teamwork.

Operations concerning the moon, libration points, asteroids, and near planets such as Mars are all considered significant objectives towards the expansion of human space exploration. As an important step in this process, manned platforms in Earth’s proximity may be used to support exploration missions as well as long-duration microgravity research. Hence, the SSDW 2015 looked at the cis-lunar space in order to establish a long term human presence in the EarthMoon vicinity, while leaving the decision about the specific purpose of the space station up to the two teams.

After a five-years break, the SSDW was held again at the Institute of Space Systems and challenged the participants with a wide-ranging task in an interdisciplinary setting. The workshop would not have been possible without the commitment of individuals and the support from sponsors: the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Astos Solutions, TESAT Spacecom, ThalesAlenia Space, OHB and the Federal ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

32 students and young professionals from all over the world with diverse backgrounds in engineering, physics and economics were selected to take part in the Space Station Design Workshop 2015. Two competing teams developed concepts for a multi-purpose platform with a modular design and public-private-partnership engagements.

The technical program was accompanied by team building events and social activities such as an egg-dropp challenge from the IRS roof or night outs in Stuttgart. These activities supported both the motivation of the participants and the teamwork.

Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) have become a subject of major interest over the past years. Studies have dealt with deflection and mitigation strategies for asteroids with a possible impact on Earth. But also from a scientific point of view, asteroids are very attractive objects as they may contain a lot of information on our solar system. The constant evolution of the Space Station Design Workshop made it possible of going one step further and providing the necessary environment for students to design an interplanetary mission.

Once again, the SSDW was held at the Institute of Space Systems and confronted the participants with a challenging task in an interdisciplinary and intercultural setting. The workshop was enabled by the contribution of individuals and the support from sponsors: the European Space Agency ESA, the “Stiftungen Landesbank Baden Württemberg”, EADS Astrium and the Planetarium Stuttgart.
32 students and young professionals from 12 nationalities with diverse backgrounds in engineering, physics and economics were selected to take part in the Space Station Design Workshop 2010. Two competing teams developed distinct concepts for the human exploration of asteroids. Both teams presented a concept with very distinct designs for the propulsion system to address the mission statement.
The technical program was accompanied by team building events and social activities such as a visit to the Stuttgart Planetarium or nights out in Stuttgart. These activities supported both the motivation of the particpants and the teamwork.

The SSDW has experienced an increasing international and professional response and interest in the workshop. Especially the systems engineering aspect in the education of engineers has been found not to be represented sufficiently in academic programs. One of the purposes of this workshop is to provide a practical approach to systems engineering and contribute to the training in this field. The results of the workshop are valuable input for studies at IRS as well as ongoing work at ESA and international groups.

When following the development and evolution of the Space Station Design Workshop in the last few years, you should have noticed the emergence of the design tasks beyond low Earth orbit and typical space station activities, but involving many aspects of human space exploration like transportation and staging to new destinations. Likewise, the methodology and tools involved have been extended and updated, allowing the SSDW 2009 for the first time to investigate human presence on another planetary body, our Moon.

Returning to our home campus at Stuttgart University, the SSDW team introduced an even more challenging task to the interdisciplinary and international participants. However, all of this would not have been possible without the support from sponsors and contributing individuals, namely the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) of the Faculty for Aerospace Engineering, the European Space Agency ESA, the “Stiftungen Landesbank Baden Württemberg”, the “Robert-Bosch-Stiftung”, Habitats for Extreme Environements (HESquared), Ms. Irene Lia Schlacht (TU Berlin), Smart Technologies, and the Planetarium Stuttgart.

Out of a significantly larger pool of applications, 31 students and young professionals were invited to the SSDW 2009, coming from 11 nationalities worldwide and with backgrounds not only in aerospace engineering, but also architecture, psychology, physics, and other engineering disciplines. In two competing teams the participants were tasked with the development of an international lunar base concept to be completed until 2025 for extended human presence of up to 180 days. Both teams developed very different solutions, placing their base infrastructure at polar (Team BLUE) and equatorial (Team RED) locations, and involving diverse subsystem technologies to cope with the specifics of each environment.

The SSDW 2009 took advantage of the newly aquired infrastructure of the Concurrent Design Facility of the Faculty for Aerospace Engineering of Stuttgart University, supervised by Johannes Gross, providing excellent working environment for both teams in their local design team rooms. Outside of the technical program, social events like a welcome dinner, a visit to the Stuttgart Planetarium, and evening excursions into the Stuttgart nightlife contributed to the constant motivation of all participants. The international and professional response to and interest in the SSDW 2009 results, both of value for the IRS as well as ongoing ESA and international design work, confirmed once again the value of the SSDW approach. Work on the technical results will continue in the future, while staff is already working on the preparation for SSDW 2010.