Johns Hopkins APL paradigm in smallsat management

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) has desig ned, built, flown, and operated 57 satellites over the past 40 years, utili zing the methodology currently captured by the phrase "better, faster, smal ler, cheaper" for all but one of these missions. In so doing, a management culture evolved that resulted in successful meeting of technical requiremen ts within short schedules, often below originally estimated costs. The basi c guidelines used in this approach are presented and illustrated with examp les from recent or ongoing programs. The practical implementation of these guidelines varies from one program to another. A case in point is the recen t trend to minimize mission operations costs. A good example of innovative architecture is the one employed on TIMED. It combines a Global Positioning System (GPS)-linked transponder, to enable time, velocity, and position fo r data tagging and autonomous orbit determination and propagation, with a g round system that enables separate operation of instruments from any of the spacecraft subsystems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.