11. Management of Space Missions

Students will be guided in understanding the end-to-end development of a space mission from the organization point of view. They will learn the basic concepts of project management, with a specific focus on its application to science projects in a multi-partner academic environment. The ECSS standards will be introduced. The complementarity to System Engineering will be presented in the concept of Project Office. The module will enable students to understand the structured development of a space project and to sketch a high-level management approach to science projects.

The high-level learning objectives are:

• Identification of main stakeholders in a space projects: funding agencies, space agencies, research centers, industries, scientific community;
• Knowledge of project management fundamentals: Product Tree, Work Breakdown Structure, Schedule, Risks, Configuration, Documents structure;
• Understanding the different phases of a project: from A to E and the concept of V-development; Technology Readiness Level;
• Learning the hierarchical approach to complex system breakdown and its relation to the review process;
• Familiarity with classical approach to ESA space projects and the new trends in project development in the private sector.