X-57 Systems Engineering Lessons Learned

The X-57 Maxwell is an electric aircraft based on a 4-passenger, twin engine Tecnam P2006T General Aviation
aircraft. The X-57 project originally envisioned a straightforward integration of commercial-off-the-shelf hardware
components and software into a novel configuration to demonstrate the aerodynamic and performance benefits of
Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP). The project was initially started with a high-risk venture capitalist approach
under NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) project, which led to an initial philosophy of Project
Management “light” (which was then interpreted as Systems Engineering (SE) “light”). As the project matured, it was
forced to transition to one with increasing SE-rigor as the project scope changed, hardware and software deficiencies
were found, and the team realized the magnitude of the technical and integration challenges. In hindsight, these
technical challenges came in part from an overly optimistic technology readiness assessment (TRA) at the beginning
of the project, which resulted in the project assuming that little to no subsystem development would be required. The
project’s approach to systems engineering evolved throughout three separate informal phases of the project as it
underwent two key transitions as a result of the team wrestling with the technical challenges and resultant changing
project scope. This paper discusses the assumptions, approaches, and challenges encountered from a Systems
Engineering standpoint in each of the three informal phases of the X-57 project. This paper also provides
recommendations on how future projects can apply Systems Engineering best practices upfront along with a realistic
TRA to aid projects that find themselves with similar challenges.