Propulsion System Design Design Template

The Propulsion System Design Template serves as a foundational engineering artifact that bridges aerospace systems engineering principles with domain-specific propulsion knowledge. It embeds best practices from standards such as ISO 15288, NASA Systems Engineering Handbook, and SAE AIR6305, enabling multidisciplinary collaboration among thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, materials, controls, and avionics specialists. Core to the template is its iterative, model-based structure: it begins with mission requirements (e.g., delta-V, payload mass, operational envelope) and flows into cycle analysis (e.g., Brayton, Rankine, or electric propulsion cycles), followed by component-level trade studies (e.g., turbine vs. electric motor selection) and integrated system simulation using tools like MATLAB/Simulink, CyclePad, or NPSS. Crucially, the template enforces design traceability—linking requirements to functional allocations, physical architectures, and verification methods—and incorporates risk management gates (e.g., preliminary design review criteria) to mitigate technical and programmatic uncertainties. It also supports digital twin enablement by prescribing data schema, interface definitions (e.g., mechanical, thermal, electrical, data bus), and model fidelity levels appropriate to each design phase.