Decentralized project management concept for schedule-critical space projects

The Apollo moon missions of the 1960s pioneered the classic phased approach to space mission management. While successful at the time, this rigid and inflexible management philosophy has become synonymous with cost and schedule overruns of most high-profile space missions. The software industry has recently adopted modern, more flexible project management techniques based on “lean-agile” methods that enable team collaboration and communication through distributed task and schedule management, online document sharing and rolling-wave planning. However, due to the inherent schedule complexities of hardware development and the firm constraints of design review and launch timelines, flexible project management frameworks have not been widely adopted for space mission management. This paper presents a modified version of the traditional agile management philosophy, adapted to the unique needs of the space industry. A recent satellite development project was managed using the new modified-agile approach, while collecting project hours and task durations. Comparisons were made between this new style of space project management and a recently completed satellite development project using traditional space project management techniques. Results show that the new management approach reduced strain on the project team, improved overall productivity, and maintained a more level task loading when compared to the traditional management approach. This paper also illustrates how the new management approach can enable project resilience to change by analyzing its response to the labor disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.