Spacecraft Design and Technology

Spacecraft Design and Technology is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 27k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the evolution, capabilities, and applications of CubeSats and small satellites in various missions, including Earth observation, space technology development, educational purposes, and spacecraft system engineering. It covers topics such as mission design, thermal analysis, nanosatellites, and the use of CubeSats for scientific research and exploration.

CubeSat
small satellite
spacecraft
mission design
thermal analysis
nanosatellite
educational
space technology
Earth observation
system engineering

Research works: 27k
In the world top 10%: 2.7k
Top-10% rate: 10.0%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25: +41%
Largest producer: United States

Spacecraft Design and Technology

Which countries lead Spacecraft Design and Technology research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.1k and 831 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

1 United States 1.1k works
2 China 831 works
3 Italy 267 works
4 India 257 works
5 Germany 189 works
6 France 165 works
7 United Kingdom 160 works
8 Russia 149 works
9 Japan 141 works
10 South Korea 103 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States1,074 · 32.2%China831 · 24.9%Italy267 · 8.0%India257 · 7.7%6 others listed908 · 27.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Spacecraft Design and Technology research?

By volume in 2022-now, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation publishes the most Spacecraft Design and Technology research, followed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and European Space Agency.

By volume, 2022-now

1 China Aerospace Science and Technology CorporationChina 100 works
2 National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationUnited States 96 works
3 European Space AgencyFrance 75 works
4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 68 works
5 Department of SpaceIndia 67 works
6 California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 61 works
7 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 49 works
8 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 47 works
9 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 38 works
10 National University of Defense TechnologyChina 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in Spacecraft Design and Technology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Spacecraft Design and Technology include Richard M. Ryan, Michael Snyder and Kai You Wang.

1 Richard M. Ryan United States 395k citations
2 Michael Snyder United States 224k citations
3 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
4 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
5 David Alan Bennett United States 190k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Spacecraft Design and Technology?

The most cited paper in Spacecraft Design and Technology is "The Spitzer Space Telescope Mission" (M. W. Werner et al., 2004), with 2,911 citations. Next come "Preshaping Command Inputs to Reduce System Vibration" (1,646) and "A Parameterization for the Absorption of Solar Radiation in the Earth's Atmosphere" (1,528).

Most cited papers
#	Paper	Released	Citations
1	The Spitzer Space Telescope Mission M. W. Werner et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series Open access	Sep 2004	2,911
2	Preshaping Command Inputs to Reduce System Vibration Neil C. Singer, Warren P. Seering · Journal of Dynamic Systems Measurement and Control Open access	Mar 1990	1,646
3	A Parameterization for the Absorption of Solar Radiation in the Earth's Atmosphere Andrew A. Lacis, James E. Hansen · Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences	1974	1,528
4	The SOHO mission: An overview V. Domingo, Bernhard Fleck, Arthur I. Poland · Solar Physics	Dec 1995	1,520
5	Atmospheric Correction for the Troposphere and Stratosphere in Radio Ranging Satellites Jouko H. Saastamoinen · Geophysical monograph Book chapter	8 Sep 2011	1,510

All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Spacecraft Design and Technology research done?

The largest centres of Spacecraft Design and Technology research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Bengaluru (India), Tokyo (Japan) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Noordwijk-Binnen, El Segundo and North Laurel.

Largest cities, 2022-now

1 BeijingChina 362 works
2 BengaluruIndia 87 works
3 TokyoJapan 77 works
4 MoscowRussia 74 works
5 RomeItaly 71 works
6 ShanghaiChina 65 works
7 ParisFrance 65 works
8 PasadenaUnited States 64 works
9 Xi'anChina 56 works
10 HarbinChina 53 works

Where it is the local speciality

Noordwijk-BinnenNL · 39.4 works225×
El SegundoUS · 28.3 works180×
North LaurelUS · 24.4 works90×
GreenbeltUS · 27.6 works67×
PasadenaUS · 64.0 works33×

← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Spacecraft Design and Technology than the world average.

See Spacecraft Design and Technology on the map

Where is the best place to study Spacecraft Design and Technology?

Among universities, judged by research, Harbin Institute of Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged

40%

Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share

10%

Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale

30%

Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%

10%

Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad

10%

Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.

#	University	Score	Top 10%	Specialisation	Works	Growth
1	Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina	68.5	20.4%	7.5×	47	+374.3%
2	Universidad Politécnica de MadridSpain	66.6	23.2%	9.4×	11	+26.5%
3	Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina	66.0	26.1%	9.4×	23	-
4	California Institute of TechnologyUnited States	65.1	11.9%	44.1×	61	+5.8%
5	Beihang UniversityChina	64.8	20.1%	7.5×	32	+148.2%
6	Xidian UniversityChina	63.4	26.7%	5.9×	16	+334.5%
7	Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States	63.2	14.5%	10.2×	28	+4.5%
8	Stanford UniversityUnited States	61.6	32.5%	2.1×	12	+494.5%
9	National University of Defense TechnologyChina	60.8	13.8%	12.1×	36	+127.5%
10	University of LuxembourgLuxembourg	59.4	18.9%	18.1×	16	+124.4%
11	Georgia Institute of TechnologyUnited States	59.2	6.6%	14.7×	35	+38.2%
12	Politecnico di MilanoItaly	59.1	11.5%	11.0×	30	+485.4%
13	Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina	56.0	28.7%	1.4×	9	+447.1%
14	Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina	54.3	19.3%	4.4×	20	+213.9%
15	Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina	53.8	20.9%	1.3×	14	+218.3%
16	UNSW SydneyAustralia	53.5	23.8%	2.4×	8	+227.3%
17	University of StrathclydeUnited Kingdom	53.2	16.4%	8.8×	9	+27.6%
18	Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore	53.0	23.2%	2.8×	8	+277.2%
19	University of PisaItaly	52.9	16.7%	6.4×	12	+74.8%
20	Tsinghua UniversityChina	52.2	18.7%	2.1×	19	+174.2%
21	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologySouth Korea	51.9	13.4%	10.7×	19	+331.7%
22	Mohammed V UniversityMorocco	51.7	27.8%	5.6×	8	-
23	Kyushu Institute of TechnologyJapan	51.6	14.5%	40.2×	17	+71.3%
24	University of Colorado BoulderUnited States	51.5	9.9%	10.7×	19	+47.9%
25	University of GlasgowUnited Kingdom	51.5	17.4%	3.7×	9	+276.0%
26	Politecnico di TorinoItaly	51.0	4.6%	14.0×	24	+197.8%
27	Sapienza University of RomeItaly	50.0	8.7%	4.7×	21	+122.6%
28	Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina	49.3	17.3%	3.9×	17	+169.4%
29	Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands	48.5	9.8%	4.7×	12	+35.4%
30	Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States	48.3	5.3%	4.8×	29	+97.1%
31	Universitat Politècnica de CatalunyaSpain	47.0	11.6%	7.1×	9	+72.2%
32	University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina	46.8	16.1%	2.6×	17	+170.0%
33	Space Engineering UniversityChina	44.5	8.1%	77.9×	22	+320.8%
34	Nanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsChina	43.7	15.6%	3.8×	13	+108.5%
35	University of Naples Federico IIItaly	43.5	14.6%	3.9×	11	+479.9%
36	United Arab Emirates UniversityUnited Arab Emirates	42.8	9.4%	11.0×	10	+631.6%
37	University of PaduaItaly	41.9	8.6%	4.5×	14	+272.0%
38	University of Rome Tor VergataItaly	41.2	13.7%	7.5×	9	+316.5%
39	The Ohio State UniversityUnited States	40.8	25.4%	1.8×	9	+159.1%
40	University of ArizonaUnited States	39.5	3.6%	6.0×	15	+219.8%
41	Technical University of MunichGermany	27.8	2.0%	2.8×	9	+89.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Spacecraft Design and Technology, country by country

Is Spacecraft Design and Technology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 41% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Spacecraft Design and Technology.

grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Spacecraft Design and Technology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.024% in 2024.

Fractional works of Spacecraft Design and Technology over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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Which countries lead Spacecraft Design and Technology research?

By volume, 2022-now

How concentrated that is

Which institutions lead Spacecraft Design and Technology research?

By volume, 2022-now

Who are the leading researchers in Spacecraft Design and Technology?

What are the most cited papers in Spacecraft Design and Technology?

Where is Spacecraft Design and Technology research done?

Largest cities, 2022-now

Where it is the local speciality

Where is the best place to study Spacecraft Design and Technology?

Is Spacecraft Design and Technology research growing?

Its share of all research

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Which topics inside it are moving

Related research

Discussion