Objectives and Scope

This page describes ASRI's approach to the Project Management process, which is aimed at the successful completion of a project. Successful completion is recognised when the project objectives are met with regards to technical, cost and schedule performance. It requires the implementation of management processes by applying suitable methods and techniques to support the people managing the projects. Project management is performed following a structured approach to manage the scope, quality, time, cost, organisation and logistics of the project.

Project management provides the framework for the definition and implementation of the project through planning, organisation, performance monitoring, assessment of the results, and introducing recovery actions or changes (if necessary) in order to meet overall project objectives.

This page will gradually be 'filled out' with information about how ASRI implements (or at least intends to implement) the various ECSS Level 2, and some Level 3, project management processes. Many of the ideas below have been directly extracted from ECSS-M-00A and tailored to suit ASRI.

Policy and Principles

The following principles shall be observed when Project Management processes are implemented:

• Project objectives are clearly defined, understood, and known to all participants at the outset of the project, and objectives are maintained during the life cycle of the project. This enables and motivates all participants to work towards a common goal.
• The project is managed with a structured approach, by breaking down the project into manageable elements. This allows scope definition, responsibility assignment, planning, monitoring and reporting at the levels of detail chosen for visibility and control.
• Project Management includes measurement of achievements by the identification and tracking of deliverables during the evolution of the project.
• Relationships are established between project participants to allocate responsibility boundaries, and to govern interfaces between them.
• The incorporation of Quality into the product shall be the responsibility of everyone involved in the project and the responsibility for monitoring, assessing and certifying that Quality has been incorporated shall be clearly allocated.
• Project Management includes risk management as inherent to all aspects of project work.
• Project Management includes the management of human resources, which is fundamental to the success of the project.

The major elements of project management, as defined by ASRI and the ECSS, to serve these principles are:

• project breakdown structures,
• project organisation,
• project phasing and planning,
• configuration management,
• information management,
• cost and schedule management,
• integrated logistic support,
• risk management, and
• human resource management.

The objectives, scope and implementation requirements for each element are outlined below.

Project Breakdown Structures

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-10

Objectives and Scope

Project breakdown structures are used to:

• promote coherence between the technical, administrative, financial and other activities of the project;
• identify the responsibilities of each participant, both corporate and individual;
• provide a framework for planning, scheduling, costing; and
• provide a framework for control of the project.

Project breakdown structures are derived from the requirements of the project and include:

• function trees;
• product trees, otherwise known as product breakdown structures;
• work breakdown structures;
• cost breakdown structures; and
• configuration item trees.

Implementation

ASRI has yet to develop an approach to development of project breakdown structures with the exception of product breakdown structures. Development of the other breakdown structures will occur as needed, with the work breakdown structure most likely to be developed next.

Product Breakdown Structures

A product breakdown structure describes how a system is decomposed into constituent parts. The generic product breakdown structure adopted for the ASRI Project System is as follows:

1. System - The top-level product.
2. Segment - Products usually encompassing a given environment (eg Space Segment, Ground Segment).
3. Sub-system - A combination of equipment and/or processes that achieve a specific function, such as communications or spacecraft control.
4. Assembly - Two or more lower level equipments and/or processes joined together to form an item with defined characteristics, but which does not, by itself, achieve a specified objective.
5. Hardware Part - A hardware item that cannot be disassembled without permanent destruction.
6. Software Module - A software item that is discrete and identifiable with respect to compiling, combining with other items and loading.

Note that this structure differs from that defined in ECSS-E-00A - Space Engineering - Policy and Principles and more closely resembles United States aerospace industry practice.

Project Organisation

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-20

Objectives and Scope

The objective of the project organisation is to provide a management structure which facilitates achievement of project objectives through appropriate levels of supervision of, and support to, those doing the detailed project work. The project organisation encapsulates:

• responsibility and authority of participants,
• relationship between participants,
• personnel qualifications and training,
• resource requirements,
• facilities and logistics,
• information technology support, and
• project documentation.

Implementation

All ASRI projects have the same high-level project organisation, shown below, with only the lower levels differing. The design of the high-level ASRI project organisation is premised on the following:

• The ASRI Board is the sponsor of all ASRI projects.
• Each ASRI project is coordinated by a Project Manager.
• Within each project team, the Systems Engineering Manager and Product Assurance Manager work with the Project Manager to achieve the project objectives.
• Each ASRI Program Manager provides direct support to each assigned project through the Project Manager.
• The ASRI Programs Manager supports each projects through the provision of technical and process advice and resources as required by the Project Manager.
• External organisations co-sponsoring ASRI projects interface with project teams via the applicable ASRI Program Manager. This avoids Project Managers having to deal with conflicting requirements.

Project Phasing and Planning

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-30

Objectives and Scope

Phasing and planning is used within ASRI projects to reduce technical, resource and schedule risk by introducing defined control points. These control points are defined by various formal reviews.

Implementation

ASRI project phasing and planning, including determination of all review points and milestones, is determined by the ECSS project life cycle. Each phase has clearly defined objectives and work content. Formal deliverables are the inputs and outputs of phases.

Milestones enable control over the progress of the project cost, schedule and technical objectives. Each milestone consists of a formal review of all deliverables with technical input subject to configuration management. All deliverables must meet pre-defined quality criteria.

Project phases are different to mission phases with project phases being project-process related and mission phases being related to the product. However, management of all phases should meet the same standards.

Organisation and Conduct of Reviews

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-30-01

Objectives and Scope

Yet to be developed ...

Implementation

Reviews for ASRI projects are to be organised and conducted in accordance with the ASRI Review Process Description.

Configuration Management

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-40

Objectives and Scope

The objective of the configuration management activity is to facilitate engineering control of the system in a traceable manner, thus aiding in verification of solution against requirements. Configuration management specifically addresses:

• identification and description of each entity in the project or product that requires configuration control,
• establishment of configuration baselines,
• control of interfaces, and
• verification of completeness.

Implementation

Yet to be developed ...

Document Configuration Management

Document Titling

ASRI project documents are to be titled in accordance with ... (yet to be fully developed). The document title is entered in Document Properties - Summary - Title and the project title is entered in Document Properties - Summary - Subject.

ASRI project documents are assigned structured identifiers in accordance with the following format:

organisation

"ASRI"

project

Four-letter project or system code, eg "JSAT" for the JAESAT Project / Microsatellite System. Registered Project Codes are available here

theme

Single-letter ECSS process thematic branch code (M, Q or E) or system product (S) thematic branch code.

product

Three-letter product descriptor derived from the product breakdown structure, usually at segment or sub-system level. May be multi-level if necessary.

type

Three-letter document type code as per the ASRI document template naming convention (PPR, OCD, SRS, DWG, etc), if applicable (nothing or substitute for non-templated documents).

other

A structured number or letter sequence, possibly derived from the product breakdown structure, usually below segment or sub-system level.

The sequence of elements in the document structured identifier format recognises that segment or sub-systems teams tend to work independently from one another and may choose to adopt different structures for [type] and [other].

An example document structured identifier is ASRI-JSAT-S-STR-DWG-102, which denotes a drawing document associated with the JAESAT microsatellite structures sub-system. The 102 is simply a number from a drawing tree associated with the structures sub-system.

Document Versioning

ASRI project documents are to be assigned versions in accordance with the following format:

N - integer

Major version incremented following formal review and approval.

X - capital letter

Minor version incremented with minor corrections to grammar, style punctuation and spelling or proposed drafts for review and approval.

Changes at each version are to be recorded in the document Amendment Log.

Document File Naming

ASRI project documents are to be saved under the document identifier with the version appended to the file name as (for example) "-ver2D". In ASRI Project System templates, this number combination is shown on the cover page and in the page header as the automatically-updated FileName field.

Information Management

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-50

Objectives and Scope

The information management activity is used to ensure that the information necessary for all other project activities is recorded, retrieved and modified in a traceable and controllable manner.

Implementation

Information management is implemented in ASRI projects through a number of controls and tools as follows:

• All project documentation is stored in Virtual Project Offices that are accessible through the ASRI web site.
• Major documents are written and formatted in accordance with the applicable ASRI Project System document template (DID / DRD).
• Amendment of major documents is performed in accordance with formal versioning and review requirements.

ASRI has a long-standing practice of making project information freely accessible. This contributes to the Institute's goal of advancing space technology through education. However, there are sometimes commercial and legal reasons why access to some information must be restricted. Consequently, ASRI has defined the following distribution controls for ASRI project documents:

• PUBLIC - Publicly available. A document assigned this control may be posted on the ASRI web site, distributed via ASRI e-mail lists or sent to anyone by any means.
• LIMITED - Project team members and/or nominated persons only. A document assigned this control may only be posted to closed e-mail lists or posted to a VPO with security controls such as SSL connection encryption and generic password access. All online accesses of this material are logged. This control is to be assigned to a document when there is sensitive information, such as commercial arrangements, contained within. This control may only be assigned with the written / e-mailed permission of the applicable Project Manager.
• CONTROLLED - Nominated ASRI personnel only. A document assigned this control may only be electronically distributed via encrypted person-to-person e-mail and not accessed via public web-based email services such as Hotmail or Yahoo. It must be stored in an encrypted form in a 'controlled' online VPO. The method of encryption must be approved by ASRI. 'Controlled' VPO access is obtained only via ASRI-approved and distributed digital certificates over SSL connections. All online accesses of this material are logged. This control is to be used when there are legal prohibitions, such as those relating to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), on public release of the information contained within. This control may only be assigned with the written / e-mailed permission of an ASRI Director who must notify the ASRI Board at or before the next Board meeting.

Each and every formal document raised (usually from an ASRI document template) during a project is to be assigned a distribution control which is to be shown on the cover and in the footer of each page.

Cost and Schedule Management

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-60

Objectives and Scope

Cost and schedule management is used to achieve the technical goals of the project within approved resource and schedule constraints.

Implementation

Yet to be developed ...

Integrated Logistic Support

Applicable standard: ECSS-M-70

Objectives and Scope

The application of Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) facilitates support of the space system throughout the project life cycle. ILS aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of support operations.

Implementation

Yet to be developed ...

Risk Management

Applicable standards: ECSS-M-00-03 and AS/NZS4360:1999

Objectives and Scope

The management of risks is fundamental to any space project. The objective of risk management is to keep all risks and issues within defined and accepted boundaries. These boundaries are usually defined and accepted in a risk management plan that is regularly reviewed.

Risk management covers all areas of the project, such as technical and quality performance, programmatic concerns, cost, schedule and operation.

Implementation

ASRI's approach to project risk management is based on both the ECSS and the Australia / New Zealand Standard AS/NZS4360:1999 - Risk Management. In particular, the level of assessed risk, both before and after risk treatment measures have been implemented, is to be based on the matrix in Table 1.

An initial assessment of risk is made in the Project Proposal (PPR) and, once the project has formally commenced, continued in the Project Management Plan (PMP).

Human Resource Management

Applicable standard: Nil

Objectives and Scope

Yet to be developed ...

Implementation

Yet to be developed ...