A method of assessing the time-variant value of multi-domain architectures

Modeling and simulation continues to improve the ability to evaluate future complex concepts and conduct early systems analysis. While the systems engineering community now advocates model-based systems engineering, the actual integrated methods and tools need to be refined. This research synthesizes descriptive architectural depictions of multi-domain (air and space) concepts, simulates these concepts through a physics-based model, collects several performance metrics, and integrates them using value-focused thinking. The proposed method enables the assessment of alternatives whose value can increase or decrease over time, depending on the design properties and operational scenario. Three surveillance concepts are proposed, made up of a low-earth orbit satellite constellation, with varying payloads, and extended by an unmanned air system flying waypoints in the area of interest. Uniquely, this method shows promise of depicting time-variant value assessments of these concepts across the simulation.