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2nd level Specializing Master's programme SpacE Exploration and Development Systems

The Programme

The purpose of the Programme is specifically designed to provide young graduates with the core applied physics and engineering skills required to develop space systems and missions. Throughout the curriculum, participants will learn to oversee the entire lifecycle of a project, from initial concept through design, assembly, and verification, up to launch and operations.

The Programme is divided into three phases, each one performed in a different SEEDS site. This educational path features 5 months of classroom activities delivered by a combination of academic and corporate teaching staff, structured into 7 core courses, and concludes with a final Internship with Project Work.

Download the Syllabus

The Specializing Master is a full-time, one academic year Programme for a total of 80 ECTS. Lectures are held entirely in English, and all standard training activities, except for external site visits and internships, take place at the Campus Politecnico - Lingotto.

SUBJECTECTSHours
Fundamentals of space sciences and techniques660
Space Management and utilization660
Space exploration systems I660
Space exploration systems II660
Human space systems I770
Human space systems II660
Space telecommunications, GNC and avionics880
Internship35875
 801325

The Specializing Master’s programme is residential but in case of students who, following the selection process, are admitted to the programme and cannot, for justifiable and compelling reasons, attend the programme in person, the Scientific Committee could consider at its sole discretion their request and allow them to attend the programme online.

Please note that:

  • this possibility might be available only as far as lectures are concerned, the internship requires mandatory in-person attendance
  • scholarships are not compatible with this possibility, students are either required to attend the programme in person or renounce the scholarship (see Art. 9).

A defining feature of the SEEDS Programme is its unique mobility structure. The pathway is divided into three distinct phases, each performed at a different international SEEDS site to provide students with a truly global experience:

INTERSHIP PHASE 1

PROJECT WORK I (Torino)

CDF (Concurrent Design Facility) sessions at a European national space agency (subject to availability) 

INTERSHIP PHASE 2

PROJECT WORK II (Toulouse)

CDF (Concurrent Design Facility) sessions at a European space agency (subject to availability)

INTERSHIP PHASE 3PROJECT WORK III (Leicester)
FINAL EVENT

Presentation of PROJECT WORK activities at European space agency ORA ESA/ESTEC

The programme culminates with a flagship final event held at  European space agency or ESA/ESTEC, where students officially present the main outcomes and achievements of their collective work.

Please note that the sequence of the Internship Phases in the different countries may change for scientific/technical/logistic reasons

The Project Work represents the main qualifying feature of the SEEDS Master. Instead of a traditional thesis, students collaborate on the comprehensive design of a wide human space exploration mission.

To ensure the highest alignment with the aerospace sector, a different mission topic is identified every year in cooperation with the three SEEDS sites, in strict agreement with the National Space Agencies and the main supporting industries.