1、Lessons Learned Entry: 1558Lesson Info:a71 Lesson Number: 1558a71 Lesson Date: 2005-08-11a71 Submitting Organization: ARCa71 Authored by: Donald R. MendozaSubject: Cost Estimating: Indirect private industry costs of space missions Abstract: A senior individual with experience in many space flight pr
2、ojects, including several X-vehicles, has observed that the aerospace industry has changed and there are many indirect costs associated with doing business with NASA. Description of Driving Event: NASA relies on contracting with private industry for much of the work in producing and operating space
3、flight systems. But NASA contracts are usually represent a small percentage of a major aerospace companys revenue. As there is no other space flight business that might produce revenue outside of working with NASA, a company must fully cover its cost with NASA contracts. Additionally, since the last
4、 manned space flight system was developed, much consolidation has occurred within the aerospace industry. There are fewer competitors for major NASA space flight contracts now, likely only two or possibly just one. Meaning, any other companies wanting to compete or just get involved as a sub-contrac
5、tor would have to bear a significant cost to develop its capabilities and competence. Thus, there are many indirect costs for private industry to be involved these types of missions. Lesson(s) Learned: Without an appropriate monetary incentive, private industry will not maintain a capability that is
6、 required for NASA type of missions. This will affect the cost of all NSAA exploration missions and can include: costs of obtaining and sharing proprietary information, especially when several contractors are Provided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from I
7、HS-,-,-involved costs of developing and maintaining sufficient expertise in NASA-specific domains to have competitive acquisition programs or the cost of not having sufficient NASA domain expertise costs of manufacturing one-of-a-kind or short run hardware which may include a vendor having to build
8、a plant or dedicate one to do a job for NASA while its other customers wait Recommendation(s): These industry costs should be considered in any cost estimate for new space flight missions. As a start, the experience of the Apollo and STS eras and the experience of the DOD weapons acquisition program
9、s should be used as benchmarks. NASA should form an integrated exploration mission development team that includes multiple Government Agencys, private industry, and academic institutions to assess these types of hidden or implicit costs. This team should also make recommendations towards addressing
10、these costs Evidence of Recurrence Control Effectiveness: N/ADocuments Related to Lesson: NPR 7120.5Mission Directorate(s): a71 Exploration Systemsa71 Sciencea71 Aeronautics Researcha71 Space OperationsAdditional Key Phrase(s): a71 Financial Managementa71 Procurementa71 Small Business & Industrial R
11、elationsa71 Program and Project Managementa71 Risk Management/AssessmentAdditional Info: Provided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-Approval Info: a71 Approval Organization: ARCProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-
