Cost-Effectiveness Measures of Replenishment Strategies for Systems of Orbital Spacecraft,
Abstract
For many years the U.S. Air Force has employed large-scale, discrete-event digital simulation models for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of various replenishment strategies for operating satellite systems. The extensive use of computer simulation presupposes a problem complexity intractable to closed form or analytical solutions. This statement is true if analysis requires a great amount of detailed information. This Note demonstrates that there is a level of aggregation of the data inputs at which closed form tractability may be attained. Moreover, given this input aggregation representing failure patterns and replenishment strategies, the exact closed forms for approximating cost-effectiveness are derived. The closed form expressions for the cost-effectiveness of satellite systems are not meant to replace the large-scale simulation programs. The aggregate level measures can be most effectively employed to check the computer programs for internal consistency and to narrow the focus of acceptable inputs into the large-scale simulation. Proper use of the analytical tools presented herein can reduce the computational effort by significantly reducing the number of simulation runs necessary to identify the most attractive replenishment methods.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA081859
Entities
People
- Bruce E. Krell
Organizations
- RAND Corporation