About
Professor Sandeep Singh joined the Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in July 2022. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 2022 where his thesis focused on leveraging manifolds and manifold-analogues to generate efficient, ephemeris-driven, piecewise optimal trajectories with eclipse consciousness. Professor Singh was also a graduate fellow during Summer 2020 at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology where he spent the previous summer as an intern. During his doctoral studies, he was awarded several university fellowships as well as the John V. Breakwell Student Award conferred by the American Astronautical Society. Prior to starting his doctoral studies, he was employed as a Scientist at Space Applications Center, Indian Space Research Organization where he served as Program Manager for Mechanical Design of the ASTROSAT mission. He also supported efforts for optical assembly design and was responsible for developing innovative, low-risk, space-qualification testing methods like the Force Limited Vibration Testing for fragile remote sensing payloads. He actively serves as a referee for several international journals and conferences and has published several journal articles and conference papers. He serves as a member of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee and is the RPI representative to the Universities Space Research Association.
Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 2022
B. Tech. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, 2013
Research
Research conducted in the Advanced Space Concepts Laboratory (ASCLab) is in the following areas:
- Spacecraft Trajectory Design and Optimization
- Developing Numerical Methods to solve complex Optimal Control problems
- Manifold Theory and Chaotic Dynamics - Aiding Trajectory Design for Interplanetary Spacecraft
- Sensor Fusion Technology - Correlating data from different sensors
- Development of knowledge-rich digital twin models - Generate high-fidelity digital replica of complex physical systems
ASCLab Members:
1. Kevin Alvarado, PhD Student, Fall '22
2. Abigail Rolen, PhD Student, Fall '22
3. Ickbum Kim, PhD Student, Fall '22
Teaching
Fall '22: ENGR 2090, Engineering Dynamics
Spring '23: MANE 4100, Spaceflight Mechanics
Wednesdays 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
MANE 4100: Spaceflight Mechanics
3 Doctoral Students
Recognition
- John V. Breakwell Award, American Astronautical Society (AAS), 2021
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA - JPL Graduate Fellowship, 2020 and 2019
- Graduate Excellence Fellowship, Texas A&M University, Fall & Spring 2019; Fall & Spring 2020; Summer 2021
- HEEP Fellowship, Texas A&M University, Summer 2018
Publications
Journal Publications:
- Singh, S.K., Junkins, J.L. Stochastic learning and extremal-field map based autonomous guidance of low-thrust spacecraft. Scientific Reports 12, 17774 (2022).
- Singh, S.K., Junkins, J. L., Majji, M., Taheri, E. (2022). Rapid accessibility evaluation for ballistic lunar capture via manifolds: A Gaussian process regression application. Astrodynamics, 1-23.
- Singh, S.K., Anderson, B.D., Taheri, E. & Junkins, J. Low-Thrust Transfers to Southern L2 Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbits Facilitated by Invariant Manifolds. Journal of Optimization Theory & Applications, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10957-021-01898-9 (01 July 2021).
- McElreath, J., Majji, M., Singh, S.K., Junkins, J. L. (2021).Optimal Bi-Impulse Orbital Transfers: Station Keeping Applications. Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, 1-10, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G005918 (28 July 2021).
- Singh, S.K., Anderson, D.B., Taheri, E. & Junkins, J. Eclipse-Conscious Transfers to Lunar Gateway Using Ephemeris-Driven Terminal Coast Arcs, Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, 1-17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G005920 (28 Jun 2021).
- Singh, S.K., Anderson, D.B., Taheri, E. & Junkins, J. (2021). Exploiting Manifolds of L1 Halo Orbits for End-to-End Earth-Moon Low-Thrust Trajectory Design, Acta Astronautica, 183, 255-272.
- Singh, S.K., Woollands, R., Taheri, E., & Junkins, J. (2020). Feasibility of quasi-frozen, near-polar and extremely low-altitude lunar orbits, Acta Astronautica, 166, 450-468.
- Sahu, Rupali, Patel, Vrushang, Singh, S.K., Munjal, B S, Structural optimization of a space mirror to selectively constrain optical aberrations, Structural and Multi-Disciplinary optimization, Springer Publication, Article 1616, DOI: 10.1007/s00158-016-1616-x.
- Singh, S.K., Sahu, Rupali, Constrained Optimisation of Passive Tuned Mass Damper using simulated annealing and artificial neural network, Journal of Mechanical Engineering, SSME, Volume 11, ISSN:2249 -0531.
Conference Publications:
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Anderson, Brian, Taheri, Ehsan, Junkins, John, AAS 21-547 Eclipse-Conscious Transfers to Lunar Gateway Using Ephemeris-Driven Terminal Coast Arcs, Proceedings of the 2021 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Big Sky, Montana
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Anderson, Brian, Taheri, Ehsan, Junkins, John, AAS 20-565 Low-Thrust Transfers to Candidate Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbits facilitated by Invariant Manifolds, Proceedings of the 2020 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Virtual Lake Tahoe Conference.
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Anderson, Brian, Taheri, Ehsan, Junkins, John, AAS 20-014 Low-Thrust Earth-Moon Transfers via Manifolds of a Halo orbit in the Cis-Lunar Space, Proceedings of the 3rd Annual AAS Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, Breckenridge, Colorado.
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Woollands, Robyn, Taheri, Ehsan, Junkins, John, AAS 19-510 Feasibility study of Quasi-Frozen, Near-Polar and Extremely Low-Altitude Lunar Orbits, Advances in Astronautical Sciences (168), ISBN: ISBN 978-0-87703-660-9 , pp. 1291-1311, 2019, Univelt.
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Taheri, Ehsan, Junkins, John, AAS 18-331 A Hybrid Optimal Control Method for Time-Optimal Slewing Maneuvers of Flexible Spacecraft, Advances in Astronautical Sciences (167), ISBN: 978-0-87703-657-9, pp. 2659-2679, 2019, Univelt.
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Taheri, Ehsan, Woollands, Robyn, Junkins John, IAC C.1.1.11 Mission Design for Close-Range Lunar Mapping by Quasi-Frozen Orbits, presented at 70th International Astronautical Congress, Washington DC, October 2019.
- Singh, Sandeep Kumar, et al. Analytical Evaluation of Design Margins for Force Limited Vibration Testing of Electro-optical Payloads., Procedia Engineering 114 (2015): 369-376.
The following is a selection of recent publications in Scopus. Sandeep Singh has 13 indexed publications in the subjects of Engineering, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Mathematics.
Professional Service
1. AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee Member
2. COI Representative from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to the Universities Space Research Association