Reducing Space Mission Cost

Reducing Space Mission Cost

VOLUME INFORMATION

629 Pages, 1996, Microcosm/Kluwer

Edited by James R. Wertz and Wiley J. Larson

ISBN 0-7923-4021-3 (Hardcover)

ISBN 1-881883-05-1 (Softcover)

SUMMARY

Reducing Space Mission Cost is the first complete treatment of the technology, process, and problems in the most critical area of modern spaceflight. The demand to reduce cost is unrelenting. This pioneering book addresses all aspects of this problem, including:

TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES FOR REDUCING COST

COST REDUCTION IN MISSION ENGINEERING, SPACECRAFT DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, LAUNCH, AND OPERATIONS

IMPLEMENTATION METHODS AND PROBLEMS

THE PRICE OF REDUCING COST

10 DETAILED CASE STUDIES OF WHAT WORKS IN PRACTICE IN

SCIENCE MISSIONS

INTERPLANETARY PROBES

COMMUNICATIONS SPACECRAFT

TEST AND APPLICATIONS MISSIONS

Beginning on the inside front cover, this book provides real cost data on a variety of missions, systems, and subsystems. According to the authors:

Reducing mission cost is hard enough if you know what the real costs are, and virtually impossible if you don't. This book challenges traditional methods, yet recognizes that all space programs are run to minimize cost within the rules under which they are built and flown. It provides practical recipes for reducing cost in both new and ongoing missions and discusses what works, what government can do to help, and what methods intended to reduce cost may be counterproductive and unintentionally increase cost. As shown on the inside rear cover, the case studies described in the book have reduced total mission cost by 60% to more than 90% with respect to projections by traditional cost models. This book is a follow-on to the now standard text and reference, Space Mission Analysis and Design, also edited by Drs. Wertz and Larson. It is required reading for professionals, students, and managers in astronautics or space sciences and managers or scientists involved in space experiments. This book shows that reducing space mission cost, without reducing reliability, is as possible as it is important for the future of space exploration.

PREFACE

Nearly all of us agree that we need to reduce the cost of space missions. Clearly we don't agree on how to do this or we would already have done it and there would be no need for this book. Nonetheless, substantial evidence shows that major cost reductions are possible. The purposes of this book are to summarize that evidence, to present data on methods that have worked on prior programs and that have been suggested for future programs, and to provide a common framework within which we can all work at the goal of making space exploration affordable.

Evidence that cost reduction is possible comes from several directions. For 30 years, the Soviet Union launched 1 to 2 satellites per week on a total budget approximately comparable to, and probably less than, that of the United States. The capability of these satellites was limited and, consequently, the cost per unit of performance may have been comparable to those launched in the West. However, the number of spacecraft launched and the mass of material launched far exceeded the totals launched by the West. These facts imply a cost per kilogram far lower than the United States and Western Europe have achieved.

A second body of evidence comes from the LightSat community in both the U.S. and Europe. For many years, this community has developed ever more capable satellites for costs on the order of one tenth that of traditional programs. In addition, both the Soviet launchers and western LightSats have had equal or better reliability than large traditional programs. The case studies in this book cost 50% to less than 10% of their expected cost based on a traditional cost model.

Traditional cost reduction methods are those that have or easily could be applied within the formal framework of a normal government or commercial satellite procurement. These methods, such as Design-to-Cost and Concurrent Engineering, represent a formalized approach to changing how we design space systems. They can contain cost growth and potentially drive costs down by 10% to 50%.

In contrast to the traditional approaches, radical cost reduction methods offer the possibility of reducing costs by a factor of 2 to 10 or more by making radical departures in how satellites are bought, built, and operated. These methods seek to change the paradigm by which satellite acquisition works and may at times be inconsistent with traditional methods and with each other. In almost all cases, radical cost reduction requires changing the rules of the game. The most obvious of these changes is to allow trading on requirements-that is, meeting the overall mission objectives by creating a compromise between what we want and what is available at low cost.

Neither traditional nor radical cost reduction methods are inherently better. Which approaches to apply, or even whether any major attempts at cost reduction are appropriate, will depend on the nature of the individual program. The current process of space mission design and development was not created in a vacuum or by individuals unconcerned with cost. Almost any attempt to reduce cost introduces some elements of compromise. We take up these issues explicitly in Chapters 1 and 10 and discuss how to set cost vs. performance objectives.

We do not claim that this book brings "new" ideas to the community or definitive answers as to what is right for your particular program. Rather we have attempted to collect, synthesize, and articulate what is known today and what people and organizations have suggested about cost reduction methodologies. We have tried to provide both motivation and methods to tackle the problem of cost: a critical first step toward truly expanding and extending the spaceflight revolution much as the aircraft revolution expanded early in the twentieth century. We can reduce costs dramatically and we must do so to ensure the continued growth and utilization of space. Wiley J. Larson and James R. Wertz

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: PROCESS CHANGES TO REDUCE COST

Introduction

1.1 Range of Cost Options

1.2 Small vs. Low-Cost Missions

1.3 Lessons Learned from the Case Study Mission

1.4 The Need for a New Paradigm

Process Changes to Reduce Cost

2.1 The Government Perspective on Reducing Cost

2.2 Radical Cost Reduction Methods

Technology for Reduced Cost Missions

3.1 Cost-Effective Hardware and Technology

3.2 Software

Reducing Launch Cost

4.1 The Effects of High Launch Costs

4.2 Lowering Launch Costs Using Today's Launch Vehicles

4.3 Analytical Techniques for Assessing Booster Efficiencies

4.4 Causes of High Launch Costs

4.5 Pros and Cons of Some Key Design Alternatives

4.6 Some Possible Design Approaches for Cutting Launch Costs

4.7 Booster and Spacecraft Cost Relationships

4.8 Summary

Reducing Spacecraft Cost

5.1 Spacecraft Development Life-Cycle

5.2 General Low-Cost Philosophies

5.3 Subsystem Development

5.4 Integration and Test

Reducing Mission Operations Cost

6.1 The Environment for Mission Operations

6.2 Examples of Low-Cost Operations

6.3 Programmatic Methods to Reduce Operations Cost

6.4 Designing Spacecraft Systems to Reduce Operations Cost

6.5 Designing Ground Systems to Reduce Operations Cost

6.6 Improving Operations Concepts to Reduce Operations Cost

Design-to-Cost for Space Missions

7.1 Design-to-Cost in Systems Engineering and Management

7.2 Some Basic Concepts

7.3 Building the Design-to-Cost Model

7.4 Two Examples of Design-to-Cost Models for Space Missions

Cost Modeling

8.1 Introduction to Space Cost Models

8.2 The Aerospace Corporation Small Satellite Cost Model

8.3 Dealing with a Changing Paradigm

Reliability Considerations

9.1 Interaction Between Reliability and Cost

9.2 Reliability Program for Low-Cost Spacecraft

9.3 Design for Fault Avoidance

9.4 Fault Tolerance

9.5 Summary and Conclusions

Implementation Strategies and Problems

10.1 Techniques Applicable to Most Programs

10.2 Reducing Cost in New Programs

10.3 Reducing Cost in Ongoing Programs

10.4 Problem Areas in Implementing Dramatic Cost Reduction

10.5 Summary-Maintaining Balance and Perspective

10.6 Annotated Bibliography on Space Systems and Mission Engineering

PART II:CASE STUDIES

Explanation of Facing Page Cost Data

Science Missions

11.1 Orsted

11.2 Freja

11.3 SAMPEX

11.4 HETE

Interplanetary Probes

12.1 Clementine

12.2 Pluto Express

Communications, Test, and Applications Missions

13.1 RADCAL

13.2 ORBCOMM

13.3 AMSAT

13.4 PoSAT-1

Appendix

Index

Inside Front Cover- Cost Summary for Reducing Space Mission Cost Case Study Missions Inside Rear Cover- Ratios of Actual Cost to Projected Cost for Reducing Space Mission Cost Case Study Missions

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: PROCESS CHANGES TO REDUCE COST
Introduction
1.1 Range of Cost Options
1.2 Small vs. Low-Cost Missions
1.3 Lessons Learned from the Case Study Mission
1.4 The Need for a New Paradigm
Process Changes to Reduce Cost
2.1 The Government Perspective on Reducing Cost
2.2 Radical Cost Reduction Methods
Technology for Reduced Cost Missions
3.1 Cost-Effective Hardware and Technology
3.2 Software
Reducing Launch Cost
4.1 The Effects of High Launch Costs
4.2 Lowering Launch Costs Using Today's Launch Vehicles
4.3 Analytical Techniques for Assessing Booster Efficiencies
4.4 Causes of High Launch Costs
4.5 Pros and Cons of Some Key Design Alternatives
4.6 Some Possible Design Approaches for Cutting Launch Costs
4.7 Booster and Spacecraft Cost Relationships
4.8 Summary
Reducing Spacecraft Cost
5.1 Spacecraft Development Life-Cycle
5.2 General Low-Cost Philosophies
5.3 Subsystem Development
5.4 Integration and Test
Reducing Mission Operations Cost
6.1 The Environment for Mission Operations
6.2 Examples of Low-Cost Operations
6.3 Programmatic Methods to Reduce Operations Cost
6.4 Designing Spacecraft Systems to Reduce Operations Cost
6.5 Designing Ground Systems to Reduce Operations Cost
6.6 Improving Operations Concepts to Reduce Operations Cost
Design-to-Cost for Space Missions
7.1 Design-to-Cost in Systems Engineering and Management
7.2 Some Basic Concepts
7.3 Building the Design-to-Cost Model
7.4 Two Examples of Design-to-Cost Models for Space Missions
Cost Modeling
8.1 Introduction to Space Cost Models
8.2 The Aerospace Corporation Small Satellite Cost Model
8.3 Dealing with a Changing Paradigm
Reliability Considerations
9.1 Interaction Between Reliability and Cost
9.2 Reliability Program for Low-Cost Spacecraft
9.3 Design for Fault Avoidance
9.4 Fault Tolerance
9.5 Summary and Conclusions
Implementation Strategies and Problems
10.1 Techniques Applicable to Most Programs
10.2 Reducing Cost in New Programs
10.3 Reducing Cost in Ongoing Programs
10.4 Problem Areas in Implementing Dramatic Cost Reduction
10.5 Summary-Maintaining Balance and Perspective
10.6 Annotated Bibliography on Space Systems and Mission Engineering
PART II:CASE STUDIES
Explanation of Facing Page Cost Data
Science Missions
11.1 Orsted
11.2 Freja
11.3 SAMPEX
11.4 HETE
Interplanetary Probes
12.1 Clementine
12.2 Pluto Express
Communications, Test, and Applications Missions
13.1 RADCAL
13.2 ORBCOMM
13.3 AMSAT
13.4 PoSAT-1
Appendix
Index
Inside Front Cover- Cost Summary for Reducing Space Mission Cost Case Study Missions Inside Rear Cover- Ratios of Actual Cost to Projected Cost for Reducing Space Mission Cost Case Study Missions
Visit our Bookstore for ordering information