A model-based systems engineering approach to space mission education of a geographically disperse student workforce

Abstract

The Alabama Burst Energetics eXplorer (ABEX) is a 12U CubeSat commissioned by the Alabama Space Grant Consortium; its astrophysics mission is to study the low energy, prompt emission of Gamma-ray Bursts in both gamma and X-ray spectra. The ABEX program is unique in that its workforce is comprised of individuals at seven colleges and universities around the state of Alabama. ABEX management releases Requests for Proposals (RFP) for Senior Design (SD) projects or university research groups to design and build spacecraft subsystems; university faculty with experience and facilities for the development of that subsystem respond to the RFPs to create a team. ABEX supports undergraduate SD students, graduate student mentors, and faculty technical advisors for all spacecraft subsystems in both ground and flight mission segments. Each team has between 5-15 undergraduate students, meaning ABEX teaches spacecraft design to ~85 undergraduate students at any given time; ABEX may be the largest collegiate CubeSat program in the world. The undergraduate labor force turns over, or cycles to new students, every 4-8 months, so ABEX can teach hands-on spacecraft design to over 100 students every year and has taught over 200 to date. Two features of ABEX create a difficult Systems Engineering (SE) environment: the undergraduate labor force turnover rate and the geographically disperse workforce. Most subsystem teams exist within two-semester SD courses, but some teams, like Flight Software, only exist for one semester before the undergraduate team turns over. This means the student onboarding process must be efficient and the material hand-off process effective if any substantive contribution to the spacecraft is to be made in their brief course period. A Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) Integrated System Model (ISM) was created using SysML as a full-program organization of mission requirements, subsystem architectures, verification and validation procedures, and team interaction tracking methodologies for workforce turnover effect mitigation with ISM-exported artifacts as central objects of stage-gate reviews. An ABEX website was created with processes for first-time student onboarding, ISM artifact dissemination, and intercollegiate document transfer in addition to being a public relations arm for the program. With education at the forefront of ABEX, educational requirements and performance measures detailing onboarding efficiency, workforce preparedness, and alumni vocation results are defined within the ISM and used to evaluate program education proficiency. Program organization, ISM structure, and spacecraft design is presented with an emphasis on quantifying student education as a result of program involvement