The second masterclass of Jarvis Con – Space Edition did not only present Agile Engineering in fitting with the times (both in terms of COVID-19 and the 21st century in general) but did so within Valispace itself; offering us a sneak peek into the ways Valispace is catering to the unique needs of its users at Momentus, and how the flexibility of the system is not only enabling but facilitating agile engineering.
Delivering this alternative talk was Sam Avery, Program Manager and Systems Engineer at Momentus. Momentus is building the in-space equivalent of connecting flights; enabling satellites to be delivered to their intended custom orbit not only faster but cheaper than ever before. Part of their success in delivering on this claim is their ability to work efficiently and make the most of their in-house expertise throughout design, integration and testing phases using agile engineering.
Here is a short recap of some of the best practices used within Momentus.
- Use dashboards to maintain alignment between engineers, business development teams and team members in general. This is aimed to bridge the gap between disciplines and should consist of a living document that is refined throughout the project.
- Create small multidisciplinary teams with a defined focus. By limiting the focus to a single task teams can be more efficient and accountable. A single lead should act as a guide and interface with leadership.
- End to end lifecycle development enables teams to gather and retain knowledge throughout the development cycle whilst ensuring better collaboration and reducing efficiency overheads through team autonomy and focus.
- Create and maintain design terminology to ensure communication is consistent and alignment can be achieved from the start of the project. Make sure new members are on board with this. This is essential for agile engineering.
- Synchronise your tools as much as possible to make sure you are all using the latest values; without this, no amount of collaboration can result in fully agile engineering.
Whilst there is certainly a great need for a shift to agile engineering in more than one sector, Sam was successful in providing a framework of where to start and how to approach this using Valispace. We look forward to seeing Momentus’ continuous success and hearing more about how we can empower more engineers such as Sam.
If you want to catch up on what you missed, watch the full recording here:
Jarvis Con – Space Edition with Sam Avery Recording
About Sam Avery:
Sam is a driven project leader and systems engineer with experience in aerospace design, integration, testing, and flight. He is the project manager for Momentus’ Vigoride 2 orbital transfer vehicle, which is planned to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in February 2021. Sam co-founded Audacy, a satellite communications startup, where he led a 3U CubeSat demonstration mission.
Connect with Sam.