A Case Study on how Space Agencies are Capitalizing on Space Projects: Lessons Learned Through Capture Events

Abstract

The issue of effectively learning from experience through Lessons Learned (LL) is a long-standing one. Its deployment in the space sector, although more recent, is a well-established issue in the space business. Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Space Agency (CNES) include Lessons Learned capitalization in their processes regarding development of orbital systems. One of the goal of these activities is to improve the risk assessment managed by the project teams, by providing them with lessons learned coming from previous projects. Management procedures, technical standards and handbooks used by the projects can also be improved as a result of the lessons capitalization. There are several steps in the capitalization process. Lessons Learned proposals need to be collected, then analyzed by experts, shared and agreed before being turned into understandable and usable lessons. Finally, these lessons need to be made available to the potential users. The first step in the capitalization is to collect the lessons, which is time consuming. People working in space projects do not usually produce lessons on their own. In order to help them, both agencies have organized Lessons Learned capture events, gathering people working on a project, and inviting them to elaborate collectively the Lessons Learned from their project experience. Attendees can come not only from the agencies, but also from their partners (for example other agencies, industrial companies). The paper deals with how ESA and CNES apply their LL processes. It especially describes the case study of capture events (preparation, typical description of an event, outcomes). The emphasis is put on the methods used both to have participants committed to the approach and to produce useful lessons. Events typical examples are given. Finally, the paper compares ESA and CNES approaches and insists on the benefits capture events can bring to Organizations.