Commonality of Ground Systems in Launch OperationsNASA is examining the utility of requiring a certain degree of commonality in both flight and ground systems in the Constellation Program. While the benefits of commonality seem obvious in terms of minimizing upfront development and long-term operations and maintenance costs, success in real, large-scale engineering systems used to support launch operations is relatively unknown. A broad literature review conducted for this paper did not yield a single paper specifically addressing the application of commonality for ground systems at any launch site in the United States or abroad. This paper provides a broad overview of the ground systems, captures historical and current application of commonality at the launch site, and offers suggestions for additional research to further develop commonality approaches.
Document ID
20130012752
Acquisition Source
Kennedy Space Center
Document Type
Thesis/Dissertation
Authors
Quinn, Shawn M. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)