Mission Operations Cost Estimation Tool (MOCET)

The Mission Operations Cost Estimation Tool (MOCET) is a model developed by The Aerospace Corporation in partnership with NASA's Science Office for Mission Assessments (SOMA). MOCET provides the capability to generate cost estimates for the operational, or Phase E, portion of NASA space science missions. The impetus for creating MOCET was to develop a Phase E cost model that utilized few subjective inputs and would not require a mission operations subject matter expert to generate useful results. Additionally, it was desirable to develop a model that considered unique mission operations phases. The resulting MOCET model is composed of Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs) that were derived from historical data of Planetary, Earth Science, Explorer class, and other missions. The CERs and accompanying documentation have been implemented as a standalone Excel-based tool. The tool continues to be periodically updated with relevant data. The user community has also been engaged for feedback to further improve the usability of the tool. This paper explains details of the MOCET development process and provides an overview of the use of MOCET.