To foster and promote the awareness of space technologies and applications among students, EPFL offers since 2005 a Minor in Space Technologies. The course is hosted by the Electrical Engineering and Electronics Section (SEL) but open to the entire EPFL student community.
The main goals of the Minor in Space Technologies are:
- To offer students the possibility to strengthen their knowledge of space related research
- To promote space applications, technology and science based on the large interest raised by space
- To foster a strong educational platform in the space sector, in parallel to the development of academic and research projects at EPFL (e.g. SwissCube, Cleanspace)
We also held an info session on Sept. 16, 2025. If you want even more information and details about the Minor in Space Technologies, you can watch the video here.
Fast travel to:
guidelines
Who is eligible to register for the Minor in Space Technologies?
The Minor may be taken by EPFL students, but specifically by STI students (EL, MX, MT, GM) and the students from the Physics Section (PH). Students from other sections are more than welcome but prior authorisation from their Sections should be obtained.
The Minor is only open to Master students who have selected a Master programme with at least 90 ETCS (European Credit Transfer System).
A minimum of 30 ETCS are necessary to obtain the Minor, usually corresponding to one semester of study.
All the requirements for the Minor should be completed before the student starts his/her Master thesis (usually in the 4th semester of his/her Master studies).
What are the requirements to register for the Minor?
In order to obtain the Minor, a student will have to get at least 30 ETCS (European Credit Transfer System) that could be made out of at least:
- 18 ETCS for courses (to be selected out of a list of 103 ETCS)
- 12 ETCS for a project
It should be noted that the classes taken by a student in the frame of the Minor are considered as a “group”. Hence the student has to obtain a mark of at least 4.0 for each of them.
Classes that have been taken during bachelor or master CANNOT be taken again in the minor.
Note that the 12 ETCS project is not mandatory but is very highly recommended, especially during the 3rd semester.
When can I enroll in the Minor in Space Technologies?
The student’s choice to select the Minor should be announced no later than two weeks after the beginning of the first semester of his/her Master studies. The student’s choice should be confirmed before the end of the first semester of his/her Master studies.
What classes to choose if I want a better focus on Space Systems?
We recommend the students to take these courses on their first semester of the master.
Here's below a flow chart with the main recommended courses and in which order to take them.
What happens if I decide not to continue with the Minor course?
A student is allowed to give up the Minor after being enrolled. However, in order to obtain his/her Master degree, the student will still have to satisfy the rules relative to the Master diploma determined by the “ordonnance du Contrôle des études” as well as those applicable to his/her section.
In addition, the credits (ETCS) earned in the frame of the Minor may be transferred to the necessary requirements to earn the Master degree as long as the student’s Section allows for it. The credits earned in the frame of the Minor which are not valid for the requirements to earn the Master degree will be lost.
ESA Academy
For students taking European Space Agency Academy Classes and want to add the credits into their study plan:
- You MUST notify the EPFL Academic Services of your registration to an ESA Academy Class before the date of the class.
Make sure to contact the student services in advance to let them know (and also add your Head of Section and espace@epfl.ch in copy).
If you don't contact them before, the credits offer through ESA classes will not be accepted into your study plan. - After the training is finished, you will have to make a presentation of the income of the training to the head of the Minor in Space technologies, prof. Jean-Paul Kneib.
Contact espace@epfl.ch to organise a meeting with prof. Kneib.
list of courses
2026-2027
Credits offered: 108
Teachers, credits and period of the classes are subjected to change.
Classes that have been taken during bachelor or master CANNOT be taken again in the minor.
Classes with this symbol * are space focused and are highly recommended.
For the autumn semester 26-27, a new course in the Minor in Space Technologies entitled "Advanced Space Propulsion System Operations and Equipment Design" will be taught by Markus Jäger. It has a credit value of 3 ECTS.
The course is offered remotely from ETHZ and is highly recommended in the frame of the Minor. It will be conducted via Zoom, and the specific room at EPFL will be communicated to you as soon as possible. To register for this course EPFL students can request an ETHZ guest account, which also gives access to all course materials. Please register here.
For more information, please visit the following link:
https://www.epfl.ch/education/studies/en/rules-and-procedures/faq/registering-courses-exams-register/
and especially the section entitled "Subjects outside of the study plan."
For detailed information about the course content: course description.
If you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please contact espace@epfl.ch.
As a reminder, you can check out the flow chart below recommending a logical pattern of classes selection if you specifically want to focus on Space Systems:
project
Each student planning to take the Minor can select a project equivalent to 12 ETCS. A list of projects offered by the EPFL Space Center is available HERE.
Subjects could also be proposed by an EPFL lab or the students themselves (as long as the project is space related).
Note that if you are proposing your own project, it needs to be supervised by a lab at EPFL. The Minor project cannot be done within an external entity.
It is highly recommended to take the project after the classes, i.e. in the third semester of Master. Once the title of the project has been selected and agreed with project supervisors, the student needs to register for the project on IS-Academia and can inform us about their project via this form.
(Note that this form is not mandatory to fill in but is greatly appreciated as we do not have access to all the registrations on IS-Academia).
If you choose to do your project in an EPFL lab and are unsure how to register on IS-Academia, please contact us via the form below.
enrolment
1. The student should register on IS-Academia for the Minor and corresponding classes.
If your Section is asking for the Space Center's validation before you register for the Minor, please download this form and send it back to us filled in with your chosen list. the Space Center's academic director Prof. Jean-Paul Kneib will review the chosen classes and if approved, will sign the form that you can return to your section.
2. The student ensures that the selected classes total at least 30 ECTS (with a highly recommended plan of 18 ECTS classes + 12 ECTS project).
3. Deadline to register: before the end of the first semester of each students’ Master studies
contact
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