Project planning: getting it right the first time

As the number of space flight projects being conducted concurrently at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has increased, so has the need for institutional support for the projects. One area of particular importance to flight project success is support during the early project planning/formulation phase. Numerous studies have identified front-end project planning as a key element of project success. This paper describes JPL's project formulation support team (PFST), which plays a central role in providing the institutional support tools and services for projects during their early formulation phases and ensure they get off to the right start. Finally, potential future trends in project formulation are discussed, including the increasing application of information networks to meet flight project needs, the effects of competition in the selection process for new flight projects, and the increasing use of multi-national flight project teams.