Advanced Life Cycle Cost Modeling

Abstract

Abstract Systems for future civilian and military space missions on a national or international basis will be selected with life cycle cost (LCC) as a primary evaluation criterion. It reflects the current realization that only systems which are considered affordable will be built in the future due to the constraints in national budgets. This environment calls for innovative cost modeling techniques which have more precise prediction capabilities than current ones, can account for greater variations in design, management, fabrication and operation methods, and are particularly suited for cost benefit analyses. Most of the existing estimating methods either require detailed design and fabrication definitions for bottoms-up costing, or relate cost to physical concept characteristics, e.g., weight and estimated complexity. Heavy emphasis is given to the use of suitably modified historical data for reasons of easy validation. The historical data, however, often come from systems designed for different applicat...