A Simplified Use of Quality Function Deployment as a System Tool for Designing to Cost

The problem of designing to cost is one with which industry is still grappling. A technique of requirement development, analysis, and refinement is applied to a university-class satellite development project. A simplified form of the Quality Function Deployment process was followed and allowed to structure the entire design process. It aided in evolving a mission scope which resulted in a feasible mission. This paper presents the steps developed for a senior-level, spacecraft design course. Its application to the design of a low-cost wireless power transmission experiment will be illustrated from requirements generation well into the satellite design. Cost was the prime driver in developing a feasible mission. Use of the technique allowed a cost versus benefit analysis of mission science suggested by previous studies and helped to reduce the cost by more than a factor of four over those studies. Two conditions necessary for success in designing to cost are suggested. One pertains to the organization generating the mission requirements, and the other to a paradigm shift for designers. Potential applications for university satellites and instructors developing missions for senior satellite design courses are suggested.