OpenCAESAR: Balancing Agility and Rigor in Model-Based Systems Engineering

Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) employs models and formal languages to support the development of complex systems and systems of systems. For many years, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has embraced MBSE as a key approach to managing the complexity of system development. Unfortunately, despite the availability of several modeling tools and frameworks, balancing agility and rigor in MBSE has been continuously reported as a challenging task, especially for complex systems and systems of systems that involve multiple domains. This is because existing MBSE approaches may enable agility but compromise rigor, or enhance rigor but impede agility. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of balancing agility and rigor in MBSE across the seven systems engineering architectural functions defined by the Integrated Model-Centric Engineering (IMCE) initiative. We also demonstrate how openCAESAR, an open-source MBSE methodology and framework created at JPL, can be leveraged to strike a balance between agility and rigor through a case study of the Kepler16b project. Our final remarks focus on lessons learned from past projects.