Space Operations Ecosystem

Space Operations Ecosystem is a three-day course that examines the dynamics of management and the ecosystem of operations of space systems. These dynamics entail political, organizational, and technical factors. The interrelationships among these factors influence management and operational processes and outcomes that determine whether implementation of space projects is met with success or failure. Course participants will gain a level of awareness regarding the factors that affect their work environment. From a political standpoint, the ways in which program/project leaders navigate among accountability practices is scrutinized. The relevant practices encompass: political factors, like cost and schedule; organizational factors, such as program/project standard operating procedures; and technical factors concerning the nature of how complex technology functions, e.g., interactive failure modes. For the organizational level, how technical professionals navigate decision-making structures and organizational cultures is investigated. This establishes the ways in which risk, high-reliability, and highperformance are understood and managed. At the technical level, how project practitioners and systems engineers dealing with systems integration and architecturing work navigate between the development of complex space technology and systems management methods is explored

Space Operations Ecosystem is designed for project practitioners and systems engineers, space operators, and aerospace technical professionals.

Learning will take place through critical analysis of case studies. This is accomplished by distilling from real-life cases the different issues that demonstrate both successes and failures. The following issues are profiled through technical cases. • Over-optimization of technical systems. • Systems management practices and normalization of technical deviance. • Political oversight of programs/projects. • Evolution and practice of technical authority. • Project management and organizational stove-piping. • Centralization dynamics and program/project controls. • Decentralization dynamics and technical authority. • Corporate power and contractual partnerships. • Engineering teams and technical excellence. • Strategic planning and organizational change. • Organizational errors and program/project management. • Organizational cultures and program/project management

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to realize a level of organizational awareness as to how to navigate between the political, organizational, and technical factors that influence management and operations of complex technical projects. • Explain how stakeholder expectations affect the development of space technological systems, namely the problem of optimization of those technical systems. • Describe how political, organizational, and technical factors influence the program/project lifecycle. • Explain the organizational variables that impact the management of complex projects, which focuses on high-reliability and high-performance across project development and implementation. • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of operational methods- systems management practices, project management, and systems engineering- as applied to the management of risk, schedule, and cost. • Demonstrate how decision-making structures, involving centralization and decentralization, and organizational cultures impact the planning, organization, and implementation of complex projects, and the capabilities for dealing with complexity. • Recognize how political, organizational, and technical accountability practices influence the management of complex projects. • Apply heuristics and strategic planning techniques to address elements of decisionmaking for complex projects.

Eligar Sadeh, Ph.D., Aerospace Professional, Professor and Educator, and Entrepreneur. Eligar currently serves as Founder and CEO of Astroconsulting International LLC, which empowers space, defense, and environmental programs and projects with the critical technology management skills to optimize outcomes; Chief Editor of the academic journal Astropolitics; Founder and CEO of the Astropolitics Institute; and is affiliated with with the International Space University and the University of Colorado. Previously, Eligar held professorships in Space and Defense Studies in the College of Aerospace Sciences, Department of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, and in the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Eligar also worked for Lockheed Martin Space Systems as an Aerospace Systems Engineer on NASA spacecraft, and served as a Research Associate with the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. Eligar published a number of books and book chapters on space issues, as well as research papers in the academic journals of Space Policy, Astropolitics, and Acta Astronautica. Eligar holds Ph.D., Master, and B.S. degrees with subject matter expertise in Space Studies, Environmental Studies, International Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Technology Management, Project Management, Systems Engineering, Engineering Leadership, Bioengineering, Bioastronautics, Remote Sensing, and Astrophysics.