Integrating Concurrent and Model-Based System Engineering into Hands-On Space Systems Education: Lessons Learned from the Space Mission and System Design Course at Politecnico di Torino

Since 2012, the MSc in Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino has offered the Space Mission and Systems Design (Progetto di Missioni e Sistemi Spaziali) course, aimed at presenting the complexity, critical aspects, and opportunities of space missions while providing the tools for their design. In this context, the course has progressively evolved toward the adoption of Concurrent and Model-Based Engineering (CE-MBSE) practices to better reflect professional methodologies in space systems development. Starting from the academic year 2023–2024, a Concurrent Model-Based approach was introduced to strengthen students’ understanding and support their final small-satellite mission project. The STAR (Systems and Technologies for Aerospace Research) group contributed by developing the software infrastructure to enable concurrent design, while the teaching staff acted as the Study Authority, guiding and supervising the sessions. Students assumed technical roles typical of a concurrent engineering environment, based on their interests, competencies, and prior experience, thus simulating a realistic design facility workflow. This initiative marked the beginning of a multi-year educational evolution. The 2024 edition saw 140 students divided into 10 multi-disciplinary teams simulating ESA-style Concurrent Design Facility, developing small-satellite constellation mission for wildfire monitoring. A dedicated software infrastructure, including shared calculation sheets, a central data repository, and tools such as STK and SolidWorks, enabled collaborative mission and system design. Student feedback highlighted the effectiveness of the collaborative setup while showing the need for more integrated data management, leading to the formal adoption and integration of a data-driven system engineering approach. Building upon these results, the 2025 edition transitioned toward a data-driven workflow using Valispace for parametric budgeting, requirements management, and real-time collaboration, complemented by Capella (but as a nice-to-have addition for the students, hence non-mandatory for this edition) for the formal implementation of digital Model-Based System Engineering. These two environments were interfaced through Python APIs to ensure digital continuity and consistent synchronization of architectures, requirements, operative scenarios and budgets. Finally, the upcoming 2026 course aims at consolidating this evolution within a fully integrated Concurrent Data-Driven Model-Based framework, unifying CE, DDSE and MBSE paradigms, to teach students how to implement the different system engineering approaches to a representative case study, and supporting their learning experience to bridge the gap between Academia and the Space Industry. Results highlight how this incremental transition fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, data consistency, and system-level reasoning, opening the way for a scalable Concurrent Model-Based Learning paradigm applicable to other STEM design courses.