Guide to Lean Requirements for Space Engineering

White Paper Overview

While space program announcements are growing rapidly, only about 5% of 400-plus satellite constellations are considered launched, with the vast majority still in early development or delayed by 6 to 12 months — and often longer.

This guide provides practical strategies to modernize requirements management within existing engineering workflows, without hindering your team’s ability to iterate quickly.

Learn how effective requirements management can prevent cascading failures that end one out of three space programs.

Our team compiled insights on how space teams manage complexity, traceability, and verification under extreme schedule and reliability constraints — and how to adapt these practices to your projects.

What You’ll Learn?

• How to avoid common pitfalls, based on practitioner insights
• Which practices are shown to improve engineering collaboration
• How to pick the right requirements tool
• What effective requirements traceability looks like in practice
• How AI can add value to requirements workflows

Who Should Read This Guide?

• You’re building a NewSpace constellation with a lean engineering team.
• You’re leading a traditional aerospace team and looking to modernize your processes.
• You’re working in a different industry and seeking transferable lessons that apply to your projects.
• Are you looking for a tool to put theory into practice?

Altium’s Requirements Portal enables you to manage engineering requirements in a tool accessible to your whole team. Download this white paper to learn more about managing engineering requirements in a tool accessible to your whole team.