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This initiative originated from discussions and ideas emanating from an Isaac Newton Institute programme on Polynomial Optimisation which took place in August 2013. The organisers are the Turing Gateway to Mathematics (TGM), the University of Birmingham, Astrium Satellites UK, the University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde and University of Bremen. Initiative activities are supported and endorsed by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Background

Various problems such as interplanetary trajectory optimisation, optimal rendezvous guidance on non-circular spacecraft orbits, guided entry, descent, and landing trajectories, have previously been highlighted by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was clear that there existed an ongoing need for technology improvements and further research in this area.

As a result of this, the 1st UK workshop on Optimisation in Space Engineering (OSE) was held on 5-6 November 2013 in Birmingham with one of the outputs being the formation of a national working group. This event was jointly organised by the Turing Gateway to Mathematics (TGM), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Southampton, and it was hosted by the University of Birmingham. In this first meeting, participants shared their latest engineering problems and proposed solutions so as to promote the creation and exchange of ideas and the identification of new trends and required developments.

The 2nd OSE workshop took forward outputs generated from the first wokshop, such as identified challenges and issues. The event sought to address these through a series of talks, discussion and break-out group type activities. Feedback indicated the value of engagement between academia and industry, especially at an early stage of a problem formation. Additionally, a number of example space engineering optimisation problems were investigated and the solutions compared and contrasted to gain understanding of the efficiency of the various techniques.

Objectives

OSE aims at providing space companies, universities, research institutes, and organisations with a forum of excellence in the area of optimisation in space engineering. Participants are invited to share their latest engineering problems and proposed solutions so as to promote the creation and exchange of ideas and the identification of new trends and required developments.

In addition to the latest theoretical advances in the field of applied mathematics for space engineering, OSE is also devoted to mathematical tools and techniques. Examples of discussion topics include:

  • Space engineering optimisation problems, which are currently difficult to solve or have no current satisfactory solution
  • Future challenges in the field of mathematics applied in space engineering problems
  • Current status of mathematical theories, tools, their pros and cons
  • Visions for the future

Next Steps

Following the September 2015 3rd OSE workshop, discussion on the next steps and future workshops will take place. An update will be available in due course.