Fundamentals of Space Domain Awareness: An Introduction to Safe Operations, Security and Defense – Online Short Course (3–4 September 2025) 3 September 2025 - 4 September 2025 Online

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Fundamentals of Space Domain Awareness: An Introduction to Safe Operations, Security and Defense – Online Short Course (3–4 September 2025)


Instructed by Dr. Wiley Larson and Mrs. Pam Magee

  • From 3–4 September 2025 (2 Days/Classes, 10 Total Hours)
  • Daily from 12–5 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Covers the necessary capabilities for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) operations, challenges and problems, strategy and tactics, space object detection, tracking, characterization and identification, overall data and information flow and decision-making.
  • All students will receive an AIAA Certificate of Completion at the end of the course

OVERVIEW

Are you ready to tackle the challenges of the 21st-century space domain? This isn’t your grandparents’ space race. As space becomes increasingly congested and contested, Space Domain Awareness (SDA) provides the actionable knowledge needed to ensure safe operations, security, space defense and sustainability in space.

WHY IS SDA A GLOBAL CONCERN?

  • Stakeholders from civil, military, and commercial sectors are now heavily invested in SDA to protect and preserve space-based capabilities.
  • The sheer number of objects in orbit raises critical questions: How many objects are up there? What are they? Where are they going? What are they doing? What are they capable of doing? Might they collide? Might they interfere with our everyday life?
  • Incidents like the Russian Direct Ascent ASAT test and close encounters between Starlink satellites and the Chinese Space Station highlight the urgent need for SDA.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

  • SDA Philosophies, Tools, and Techniques: Apply SDA principles to real-world scenarios.
  • The SDA Value Chain: Understand what government and industry stakeholders need from SDA.
  • Strategy and Tactics for SDA: Grasp the frameworks for defining SDA strategies.
  • Space Environment and Object Motion: Explain how the space environment affects objects and their behavior.
  • Object Characterization and Identification: Learn to characterize and identify space objects effectively.
  • On-Orbit Sensing: Use a space mission design process to develop on-orbit sensing systems.
  • Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis: Understand the process of Conjunction Assessment.
  • Key Technical Challenges: Learn about the key technical, regulatory, political and commercial challenges for SDA.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

This course is tailored for space system operators, developers, managers, administrators, and anyone keen on space situational awareness, space traffic management, and space domain awareness. It’s especially beneficial for SDA professionals interested in sensors, data flow, data fusion, and data sharing.

COURSE FEES (Sign-In To Register)
– AIAA Member Price: $595 USD
– Non-Member Price: $795 USD
– AIAA Student Member Price: $395 USD

Related Fall 2025 Offerings:

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Classroom hours / CEUs: 10 classroom hours / 1.0 CEU/PDH

Cancellation Policy: A refund less a $50.00 cancellation fee will be assessed for all cancellations made in writing prior to 7 days before the start of the event. After that time, no refunds will be provided.

Contact: Please contact Lisa Le or Customer Service if you have questions about the course or group discounts (for 5+ participants).

Frequently Asked Questions

Outline
Materials

Course Delivery and Materials

  • The course lectures will be delivered via Zoom.
  • Classes will not be recorded so live attendance is necessary.
  • Each registrant will receive a complete set of course notes with copies of all slides used in the presentations.
  • No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted, unless for course participants. All rights reserved.
  • Between lectures, the instructor will be available via email for technical questions and comments.
  • The SDA course is based in great part on the new eBook, “Space Domain Awareness,” which is not provided as part of this course, but is available for purchase at www.spacetechnologyseries.com
Instructors

Dr. Wiley Larson
Wiley Larson is an experienced leader in space-related development, operations, education and training with 36 years of contributions in Government and industry space systems. He served as spacecraft systems engineer, spacecraft launch controller, flight test engineer, program and project manager, Associate Professor at the Air Force Academy, and Professor at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands. Wiley is currently the Managing Editor of the Space Technology Series that includes 25+ books focused on all aspects of space systems engineering and project management. Dr. Larson and his team recently completed a six-year effort to develop the highly acclaimed book, Space Domain Awareness.

Mrs. Pam Magee
Pam Magee is the Director of Online Learning for TSTI, an adjunct professor for the Space Systems Engineering Master’s program at Stevens Institute of Technology and an assistant editor for the Space Technology Series. She is an author and editor of the recently published Space Domain Awareness textbook and the Aerospace Science and Understanding Space texts. She earned a BS in Astronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee. She was an Assistant Professor of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, an instructor at the National Security Space and has 28 years of teaching and aerospace experience.

 

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