Future reusable launch vehicles are considered to have potential benefits compared to existing and/or expendable systems. These benefits are likely to arise from reductions in turnaround time and recurring operations costs in labor and materials, potentially at the expense of additional development and acquisition cost. SpaceWorks Engineering Inc. (SEI) has developed, through research and quantitative modeling, a discrete event simulation framework referred to as Descartes-Hyperport to predict turnaround time, recurring ground operations cost, and other operations metrics for future launch vehicles. This type of modeling goes beyond traditional historical modeling efforts by focusing on subsystem-level processes and how the resources required for these processes are utilized. The models are implemented in the discrete-event simulation software Arena. Inputs for the model include descriptions of the basic vehicle concept of operations, mission models, and performance information. Outputs presented include estimated times and costs. This paper presents some of the initial work by the authors in conceptualizing how a discrete-event simulation framework could also be used for development and acquisition cost modeling.
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