Design of a hybrid ECSS-Agile framework for newspace technological development

Abstract

This Master's Thesis conducts applied research in space systems engineering and project management, investigating how ECSS standards can be integrated into the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) to enable faster, reliable, and traceable development in the NewSpace sector. The central hypothesis is that ECSS guidelines can be adapted within an agile framework while maintaining technical quality and traceability, significantly reducing management cost and development time. The main objective is to design and validate a hybrid ECSS-Agile framework that enables emerging risk detection through a data-driven automated framework, which integrates several working methodologies without compromising space compliance. A proof-of-concept is provided to materialize it and empirically validate this new approach. The methodology combines documentary analysis of current methodologies in space hardware and exploration of industry opportunities, case selection, and framework automation through an artifact. Expected outcomes include a replicable methodology,measurable reduction in management overhead and documentation for fast,traceable, and risk-controlled hardware development in European NewSpace initiatives.