Elements of Spacecraft Design
by Charles D. Brown · Charles D. Brown
An AIAA textbook by a veteran Martin Marietta spacecraft engineer covering conceptual design of spacecraft subsystems: propulsion, attitude control, power, thermal, structures, and telemetry. Worked examples drawn from real missions show how to size each subsystem and produce a first-cut design from mission requirements.
This link may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure
More resources on Spacecraft Design
nasa.gov
NASA.gov is the official site of the U.S. space agency, offering mission news, research results, data, and STEM education resources. It features engineering articles, technical briefs, simulations, multimedia, and classroom materials for students and educators.
NASA Technical Reports Server - Materials
NASA's public repository of technical reports, conference papers and journal articles produced or funded by the agency. Searching it for topics such as composites, superalloys or thermal protection gives free access to primary test data and research on aerospace materials.
Spacecraft Systems Engineering
A standard Wiley textbook on spacecraft engineering that moves from the space environment, mission analysis, and systems engineering to subsystems: structures, propulsion, attitude control, power, thermal, and communications. Readers learn how subsystem choices interact and how a complete spacecraft design is assembled.
aiaa.org
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for aerospace engineers and students. The site provides industry news, research publications (journals and conference proceedings), standards, education resources, events, and career tools for learning and advancing in aerospace engineering.
Space Vehicle Design
An AIAA Education Series text by Michael Griffin and James French that treats spacecraft design as a whole, covering mission design, orbital mechanics, launch vehicles, atmospheric entry, attitude control, structures, thermal, power, and communications. Readers learn the engineering trade-offs that drive vehicle-level design decisions.
Space.com
Established news and explainer site covering spaceflight and astronomy. It reports on crewed and robotic missions, launches, space agencies, telescopes and night-sky events, and publishes background features that help readers follow current exploration programmes and understand their scientific goals.