Review of Concurrent Engineering Design practice in the space sector: state of the art and future perspectives

Abstract

We present a survey conducted across industry, government agencies and academic organizations running concurrent design facilities for space applications, to analyze the differences in people management, tools, processes and facilities across many organizations using concurrent design. Our analysis is based on a literature review and structured interviews. Most organizations applying concurrent design also participate in related conferences and publish on their experiences with the approach. We collected data through a survey among subject matter experts involved in various roles in this type of concurrent design. The answers are evaluated quantitatively to allow a clear characterization of the state-of the-art. The data underpins common ideas about benefits and challenges of the concurrent design approach with data. We compiled statistics about minimal, typical and maximal team sizes, study duration, as well as size and critical features of facilities, and many more aspects. This review summarizes the learnings from concurrent design practice and describes open challenges to be addressed in future research.