Astrium and EADS Innovation Works Partner with Dassault Systèmes to Design the Future of Space Vehicles

Increased multi-disciplinary collaboration optimizes engineering processes.

Dassault Systèmes announced today a joint project with Astrium, Europe’s number one space company, and EADS Innovation Works, the corporate research and technology network of EADS, to develop solutions based on Dassault Systèmes’ Version 6 platform that will enable to improve Astrium’s and EADS’ internal engineering methods, through the use of an innovative and revolutionary concept: the functional digital mockup (FDMU).

The FDMU, unlike a digital mockup, which is associated more to the 3D geometry of a vehicle, will play an essential role during the exploration design phase. Based on Dassault Systèmes’ RFLP (Requirements, Functional, Logical, and Physical) concept, it will add a whole new dimension to multi-disciplinary collaboration at various stages of development, using CATIA, ENOVIA and SIMULIA.

The goal of this project is to prove that increased teamwork between the different disciplines will ensure that vehicle solutions which may have otherwise been overlooked will be brought to the forefront and discussed early.

“We believe that increased collaboration at various steps of the development process by the different disciplines could improve our engineering processes,” said Christophe Chavagnac, Suborbital Space plane Project Manager and Chief Engineer, Astrium. “We decided to partner with Dassault Systèmes because we believe the functional digital mockup is one innovative approach for streamlining design iterations.”

The development of an aerospace vehicle is a combined effort of many disciplines contributing their know-how and expertise throughout the engineering process. Multiple teams including propulsion, aerodynamics, and systems, explore different variants of the future vehicle to come up with a solution that best balances the set of multi-disciplinary requirements. The purpose of the exploration design phase is to review and agree on the most optimized component or vehicle configuration as early as possible.

Jean-Paul Defransure, CIO, Astrium added: “With this project we want to introduce innovative solutions, processes and methods to sustain two critical goals for Astrium and EADS overall: drastically reduce time to market and improve our design to cost methods. With Dassault Systèmes we want to speed up the introduction of such innovation on next industrial program. “

“We are extremely proud that Astrium and EADS Innovation Works have chosen our Version 6 solutions to work on this very challenging and exciting project, mixing aeronautics and space. We will help them to digitally create and simulate one of the most complex system ever,” stated Pierre Marchadier, Vice President Aerospace & Defense Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “All key players involved, from mechanical design to system engineering and simulation, will be able to collaborate and co-create. Astrium and EADS Innovation Works are opening a new era in aerospace transportation and Dassault Systèmes will support them to make this dream come true.”

The project is expected to produce its first conclusions by the end of 2011.

Dassault Systèmes is attending this year’s Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, France (Chalet B 181) from June 20-26, 2011.