Benefits and limitations of model based systems engineering (MBSE) application in full scale space project: a return from experience in the ESA PLATO mission

Digitally supported Systems Engineering, or Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methodologies usage in full scale space science missions development in Europe is so far limited to a few cases and several factors limit a wider adoption: from lack of clear methodology, to limitations in tooling, to lack of clarity on contractual aspects. To tackle some of these limitations, a progressive implementation of MBSE practices in Science missions at the European Space Agency has been adopted, starting with the Euclid mission and continued with PLATO and ARIEL. We present an assessment of the experience in the PLATO mission with the usage of two main MBSE approaches: i) SysML model and ii) a Mission Parameters Database used for all performance and pipeline development. We review the lessons learned from the experience in Euclid, and the implementation in PLATO, and identify areas for development to reach standardization of practices in Europe.