openCAESAR Application to Power Balance Analysis in Early Space Mission Formulation

Rapid design iteration is the heart of early space mission design. In our mission studies, engineers from multiple domains collaborate to explore mission concepts and feasible solutions through iterative cycles within a short period, typically 60 days. However current workflows rely heavily on manual communication and analog information exchange, often using spreadsheets and presentation slides. Model-based systems engineering approach has not been effectively applied because the speed of the study cycle does not match the speed of building the SysML model. This paper introduces the application of openCAESAR to streamline the power balance analysis workflow in early space mission studies. We use OpenCAESAR as a workflow orchestration platform to automate multiple domain analyses, integrating orbit dynamics, power balance, and mission operation scenarios. We improved the information exchange workflow of system configuration, mass equipment lists (MEL), and power equipment lists (PEL), which are essential applications in our early mission studies. Our solution integrates semantic and analytical models using a tailored vocabulary (e.g., Work Package, Component, Mass Properties, Power Modes) and analysis patterns (e.g., mass aggregation and power aggregation) using Ontological Modeling Language (OML) and SPARQL query. We automated the data exchange and analysis workflow between three analysis tools (Orbit analysis, Operational Scenario Generation, and Power Balance Analysis). Using the power aggregation results described in OML, once a user sets up an operational scenario, the GitLab CI/CD pipeline automatically executes the workflow, cycles through analysis tools, and deploys the results as a dashboard. We applied the proposed approach to a mission study on very low altitude earth observation (VLEO) satellite at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Initial results show that proposed solution eliminates manual bottlenecks in analysis workflow, turning weeks of work into hours. The proposed workflow enabled continuous analysis combining operational scenarios for eight orbital periods, which was difficult in the previous manual workflow. Proposed approach ensures data consistency, improves parameter exploration, and significantly accelerating early mission design process while maintaining rigor and agility.