Earth to Orbit Logistics and Supply Chain Modeling and Simulation for NASA Exploration Systems

Abstract

As exploration operations expand further into space, NASA must enhance its understanding and capability of the increasingly complex "supply chain" management of materials, people, information, and knowledge from sources (somewhere on Earth) to destinations (somewhere in space, e.g. LEO, GEO, Moon, Mars, etc.) and vice versa. Without the ability to understand, define, model, and simulate the supply chain to estimate, project, and affect decision making relevant to the supply chain performance, NASA will find it increasingly difficult to effectively manage this complex supply chain and to work as an informed collaborator with its supply chain partners in the planning, execution, and management of a successful space exploration mission. This paper describes an ongoing project on "the first ever application of 21st century space exploration supply chain modeling, simulation and analysis"