08/06/2010 SpacE Exploration and Development Systems (SEEDS) International Master 1 2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space All rights reserved, Contribution for the 2010 Toulouse Space Show by L.Gatti

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 2 All rights reserved, What is SEEDS? SEEDS originated in 2005 as the joint project of three European universities, namely Politecnico di Torino (I), Supaero Toulouse (F, now ISAE) and Bremen Universität (G) under the auspices of the Directorate of Human Spaceflight of the European Space Agency (ESA). SEEDS is therefore an international endeavour whose main object is to prepare advanced and ready-to-work specialists in the challenging and fascinating domain of the Human Space Exploration and of the development of the related systems.

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 3 All rights reserved, SEEDS Stakeholders SEEDS main stakeholders are the major European Space Agencies and Companies involved in Exploration projects, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the Italian, French and German Space Agencies (ASI, CNES and DLR), EADS ASTRIUM, Thales Alenia Space, OHB Systems and other establishments.

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 4 All rights reserved, Why SEEDS? Thanks to its innovative programme, SEEDS aims to meet the request emerging from the European Space Industry of a new generation of high level specialists, whose main characteristics are those to be educated in an international environment and to have acquired a special experience in working on advanced projects in some of the most renowned Space Centres, Agencies and Companies of the European Union. Selecting the space exploration as its principal theme, SEEDS aims to harness the most recent development lines emerging in the space strategies of both European Union and USA and, according to these strategies, to prepare the specialists who will be required in the near future.

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 5 All rights reserved, Who can apply and how does SEEDS work? A Bac+5 level degree (e.g. French Diplôme d’Ingénieur, Italian Laurea Magistrale or former 5-year Laurea, German Diplom or equivalent degree at MSc level) in Industrial Engineering (Aerospace, Mechanical, Thermal, Nuclear, Electronics …), in Information and Communications Technologies or in Physics is required. Bsc or MEng degrees at a minimum level of Bac+4 may also be considered for admission. A good working knowledge of English is required to the participants. The overall duration of the SEEDS Master Course is 15 months. The first six months (about 800 hours) are spent either at Politecnico di Torino or at ISAE- Supaero and mainly consist of class lectures and exercises providing the general foundations of the various disciplines related to Space Exploration. In the following nine months (about 1000 hours) the students develop the SEEDS Project Work under the guide of experienced senior tutors; a specific theme is identified every year, e.g. the preliminary design of a lunar outpost, a lunar permanent basis, …

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 6 All rights reserved, Degree awarding and job opportunity A discussion on the Project Work results concludes the Master course and finally leads to the award of the degree of the University in which students have been enrolled. Additionally, a - jointly released - common SEEDS Certificate will be attached to the National Degrees. Being focused on the Engineering of the Space Systems for Exploration, the SEEDS Master Course is perfectly phased with the national, European and international projects on Exploration. It is expected that the students successfully completing the SEEDS courses and associated Project Works are employed by the partner organizations at the proper level in their Engineering Teams working on the Space Exploration projects. The employment data of the graduates from the first three SEEDS editions confirm these expectations: 33 out of 35 graduates from the 2005/06 to the 2007/2008 editions are presently working on space activities in Europe and the remaining two in other industrial domains. Therefore the employment rate is 100%.

2/20/2008, Thales Alenia Space Page 7 All rights reserved, Useful web sites For further information and application see: /ms/TAS-astro.pdf On these web site students may find interviews to young engineers who attended the Master in the past years with their witnesses.