M7 Space Materials and Mining

Imperial College London’s new educational offer in Integrated Space Science and Engineering (ISSE), presents a unique opportunity to address space and its related issues. ISSE espouses a multi-stakeholder provision concept. It is provided under the auspices of the Imperial Space Lab in collaboration with Hemraj Consulting and the Institute for Space Policy and Law (ISPL) and is hosted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial.

Course Description

The Program is designed around the three interconnected pillars of ‘fundamentals’, ‘operation’ and how these relate to a potential ‘design project’. The fundamentals benefit from modules (Table 1) addressing the relevant science and technology underpinning exploration and how space can facilitate innovation to improve life on Earth.

Operational considerations include policy, commerce, logistics and the critical areas of safety, security, resilience and sustainability. The knowledge gained from the Fundamentals and Operation pillars form an essential input to the Design project on aspects of space (such as the design of a settlement in space for an identified mission). The Design Project gives students a chance to apply what they have learnt in a more hands-on real-life context.