Guidelines to design multi-role suborbital flight systems

This paper aims at providing useful guidelines to support the design of innovative suborbital flight systems with easily re-configurable cabin design. Thus, the presented methodology will allow to support the design of multi-role flight systems. To accomplish this goal, the developed methodology starts from the translation of high-level and qualitative needs expressed by each stakeholder into specific design parameters, supporting in a rational way the design activities. The exploitation of a Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach guarantees lot of improvements and benefits with respect to the traditional design methodologies: a complete internal traceability among requirements belonging to different categories and hierarchical levels as well as an external traceability towards design elements and within the overall industrial process. Moreover, this approach promises a reduction of efforts requested to carry out conceptual design activities, reducing the number of required iterations to the final architecture, and lowering economic risk related to unappropriated design solutions thanks to the increment in the confidence level of the high-level estimations. To support the implementation of the integrated design methodology, a complete tool-chain consisting of systems engineering tools, requirements management tools and CAD modelling software is suggested, guaranteeing a multidisciplinary design environment. Eventually, the results of the application of the methodology and support tool-chain to the design of three different cabin configurations aimed at performing routine touristic flight services, microgravity scientific experimentation services and test bed of enabling technologies for future hypersonic missions