Core Stage Reuse

Developing a Component Reuse Strategy for Space Launch Vehicles by Marissa Ann Good B.S. Aerospace Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012 Submitted to the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology June2017 C2017 Marissa Ann Good. All rights reserved. The author herby grants MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. _Signature redacted Signature of Author MIT Sloan School of Management A Department of Aerospace Engineering Signature redacted May 12,2017 Certified by Olivier L. de Weck, Thesis Supervisor Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Certified by ___Signature redacted PRoy Welsch, Thesis Supervisor Professor of Statistics and Engineering Systems Accepted by Signature redacted Dr. Youssef M. Marzouk, Chaieof the Graduate Program Comiiite Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Accepted by Signature redacted 'V I - --- 1 V A 1 aaura er, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE Director of MBA Program, MIT Sloan School of Management OF TECHNOLOGY C,) LU JLl 12017R 02 z T1 LIBRARIES 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 MIT Libranes http://Iibraries.mit.edu/ask DISCLAIMER NOTICE Due to the condition of the original material, there are unavoidable flaws in this reproduction. We have made every effort possible to provide you with the best copy available. Thank you. The images contained in this document are of the best quality available. This page has been intentionally left blank. 2 Developing a Component Reuse Strategy for Space Launch Vehicles by Marissa Ann Good Submitted to the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics on May 12, 2017 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics Abstract Launch vehicle hardware is traditionally very expensive to design, develop, produce and certify, because it must operate in extreme environments with high reliability. The result is that most hardware for NASA-funded launch vehicles is custom built to execute a specific mission on a single platform. In contrast to other industries (e.g. automotive), very few components are used across product platforms, a strategy known as reuse that has the potential to decrease the cost, schedule and risk of new product introduction. Budget constraints on NASA's next launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), brought about a desire to realize some of the benefits associated with reuse. However, the reuse strategy as employed has met limited success. This brings about the fundamental question: is there something inherently unique about launch vehicle design that prevents or limits reuse? If not are there strategies that can be implemented to realize the benefits of proactive reuse during launch vehicle design? The Boeing Company, the prime contractor of the SLS cryogenic stages, would like to develop a reuse approach as they begin work on the next phase of the SLS, the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), to improve project affordability. To develop this approach, a case study of the Core Stage (CS) was performed to identify lessons learned, resulting in the following insights: 1. Capturing the benefits of reuse is enabled by modularity and platforms within single- vehicle architectures rather than across vehicles. The time offset between any two launch vehicles is too great (20-30 year product lifecycles) for reuse across vehicles. Furthermore, manned and unmanned vehicles carry different requirements which must be considered when evaluating the potential for shared assets. 2. Race should be defined as the baseline, rather than as an opportunity. This requires aligning incentives and architecting the organization to enforce reuse from the outset. 3. Plan for forward reuse. Consider future requirements when designing the current vehicle. Reuse will not happen by coincidence; it must be designed into the system. These insights form the basis of a reuse approach for the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). In combination with some organization and process-based suggestions, a strategy to realize the benefits of reuse has been developed for the EUS and other future launch vehicles. Dr. Olivier L. de Weck, Thesis Supervisor, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Dr. Roy Welsch, Thesis Supervisor, Professor of Statistics and Engineering Systems 3 This page has been intentionally left blank. 4 Acknowledgements Over the past year I have received insight and help from a number of people and organizations, each of which have made the completion of this thesis possible. First, I want to thank the Boeing Space Launch System team for hosting me during my research. Being able to join such a tremendous organization for six months to study and learn was truly an honor. Specifically, I want to thank my manager, David Rigby, for providing guidance and encouragement throughout my project. I also want to offer my gratitude to the larger propulsion team, from which a number of individuals took time to help me develop the thesis that follows. I also want to thank Craig Abler and Karen Schuster for making the project possible. I want to thank my advisors, Roy Welsch and Olivier de Weck, for their support throughout this journey. Their insight allowed me to successfully navigate both the managerial and technical challenges presented in this project. The Leaders for Global Operations community was also instrumental to the completion of this thesis. I also want to thank the MIT Office of the Dean for Graduate Education for their support of my studies over these past two years through the Zakhartchenko Fellowship. Finally, I want to thank my family and friends for their never-ending love and support. 5 This page has been intentionally left blank. 6 Table of Contents ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................... 10 1 INTRODUCTION ........................... ............................................................... 11 1.1 THESIS OBJECTIVE ........................................................................................................ 11 1.2 PROJECT MOTIVATION ................................................................................................... 13 1.3 APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY..................................................................................... 13 1.4 MA JOR FIN D IN G S .............................................................................................................. 14 1.5 TH ESIS R OA D M A P ............................................................................................................. 16 2 BACKGROUND................................................................................................................... 17 2.1 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................... 17 2.2 THE BOEING COMPANY................................................................................................... 17 2.3 NASA'S SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM .................................................................................. 18 2.4 THE BOEING COMPANY AND THE SLS PROGRAM ........................................................... 19 2.5 REUSE EFFORTS ON SLS ................................................................................................ 20 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 23 3.1 DEFINING REUSE AND COMMONALITY ........................................................................... 23 3.2 BENEFITS AND PENALTIES OF SHARED ASSETS ............................................................. 25 3 .2 .1 B enef its ...................................................................................................................... 2 6 3 .2 .2 Pen a lties .................................................................................................................... 2 7 3.3 L IFECYCLE O FFSETS.......................................................................................................... 29 3.4 DIVERGENCE THEORY ..................................................................................................... 30 3.5 MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES TO COMMONALITY AND REUSE......................................... 31 4 PROPOSED FRAMEW ORK - ANALYSIS APPROACH.............................................. 33 4.1 DIVERGENCE DEMONSTRATED VIA LIFECYCLE OFFSETS ................................................ 33 4.2 DIVERGENCE QUANTIFIED THROUGH A BILL

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