Strathclyde Space Institute

The SSI is a cross-faculty, multi-disciplinary institute developing frontier research on innovative concepts and solutions for present and future space systems, aerospace transport, satellite applications, the sustainable exploitation and exploration of space and physics in space and from space.

The research has a target horizon of more than 50 years in the future while deploying practical solutions, over a wide range of Technology Readiness Levels (from TRL0 to TRL6), to respond to the needs of today.

The mandate of the SSI is to foster and coordinate the development of space science and engineering at Strathclyde and support the growth of the space sector in Scotland and the UK. The SSI implements both a bottom up and a top down approach to research and development whereby the bottom up approach is curiosity driven and aims at the development of disruptive ideas with long term applicability while the top down approach is driven by market needs and aims at developing solutions with a more immediate application.

Who we are

The Strathclyde Space Institute is composed of four main research centres:

and is connected to the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications and supports the activities of the Scottish Space School and StrathSEDS (part of the UK SEDS network).

What we do

Areas of application

  • space situational awareness and space traffic management (including on orbit servicing)
  • minor body exploration and exploitation
  • launch systems for small satellites
  • space tourism
  • satellite applications

Areas of research & development

  • multidisciplinary design and concurrent engineering
  • uncertainty treatment and optimisation
  • machine learning
  • robotics and autonomy
  • mechatronics
  • quantum physics
  • signal processing
  • astrophysics
  • photonics
  • astrodynamics and mission analysis
  • remote sensing
  • space systems engineering
  • computational intelligence
  • hypersonics and computational fluid dynamics
  • aerospace propulsion
  • aerospace structures
  • access to space

One of the largest Space Institutes in Europe

Discover more about the Strathclyde Space Institute

ESA Concurrent Engineering Challenge 2017 Success

A team of students from four Departments and two Faculties of the University of Strathclyde successfully completed the ESA Concurrent Engineering Challenge 2017

Our academics are helping to define a roadmap for an operational UK launch system by 2030

Our academics were awarded funding from the UK Space Agency to develop a detailed roadmap for a commercially viable launch system for small satellites. The consortium is led by Orbital Access Ltd in partnership with several UK-based companies.

Antenna project

Our PhD students have been working on a project incorporating origami to help them solve a major problem! Find out more.