A new global aerospace language

Massimo Bandecchi

Bandecchi provides the following example. “If you are a company producing small screws for use in satellites, you do not need the full implementation of OCDS which would be an unnecessary overstretching of resources,” he says. “It would be sufficient for a smaller company to use what we can call OCDS Lite that will allow selective implementation of OCDS. A central part of the project we have with Jotne EPM Technology involves filling in the small company gaps so all can take advantage of this new global language, without spending more resources than needed,” says Bandecchi in this interview with EXPRESSway. He emphasizes that the project is about developing OCDS functionality to improve multi-site operation (the standalone OCDS Lite), and to add functionality related to requirements management, CAD data handling and mission profile data handling.

ESA has pioneered the use of Concurrent Engineering in their Concurrent Engineering Facility (CDF) at ESTEC. Until now, the CDF has been based on utilizing Excel spreadsheets for calculation, sharing and transfer of subsystem information. This previous approach made collaboration between different organizations much more difficult. The new CDF Integrated Design Model (IDM) is used by European national space laboratories and private companies alike to accelerate space program development.

The OCDS project has defined the second generation CDF software defined on a centralized, standards based server to improve data sharing and interoperability. The OCDS solution is now in the final test and deployment phase at ESTEC, and if the enthusiasm Bandecchi displays is any sign of how he sees the results of these tests, the OCDS and Symphony have a golden future within ESA-ESTEC.

“We awarded Jotne EPM Technology the Symphony Project because of this project’s broad application to the aerospace industry,” says Bandecchi. “Norway is one 18 member countries and contributors to ESA and this means that experienced and skilled Norwegian companies with relevant technologies can be awarded project funds from ESA. Jotne EPM Technology was a perfect candidate and it was an easy decision to award them the Symphony project.”