The commercialization of space is driving increased aspirations for space exploration with a heightened focus on the associated financial considerations. These changes are forcing the industry to re-examine long forgotten trades, but commercialization does provide one powerful tool for doing so –the ability to consider all variables as a cost. Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, has developed a model that leverages this to quantify the value of a system using a lifetime cost/benefit analysis. This model accounts for factors ranging from individual component selection to interest rates, all of which are distilled into a financial metric that enables a direct comparison between alternatives. The output of the model can be used to compare system variants against each other, entire systems against each other, or the inclusion versus exclusion of a particular system at the platform level with the goal of finding a lifetime cost optimized solution. The paper specifically discusses the development of this type of model and how the results of a life cycle cost analysis can be used for life support subsystems in the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations market using alternate water system architectures as a case study. Within this, the paper will examine the factors considered by the model, the development of the model to process these factors, and both the opportunities and shortcomings of using this kind of model in today's space market. Although the paper will focus on Low Earth Orbit applications, the model can be evolved for application to deep space transit, surface habitation, or other space markets.
Schuster et al. (Sun,) studied this question.