[Webinar] January 22nd, 2025 - MBSE for Space Systems Design with Capella: From Simulation Facilities to NEO Detection

martinlb · January 20, 2026, 12:49am

Hello everyone! I’m pleased to announce that I will be the chairman for the next Capella Webinar featuring Paula Andrea García Suárez and Juan Felipe Rios, on 22nd January.

Paula is an Aerospace Engineer specialized in systems and project design for space applications. Experienced in MBSE, requirements engineering, and prototype development. Skilled in CAD modeling, mission analysis, and hands-on work in laboratory, workshop, and multidisciplinary environments.

Juan Felipe is an Aerospace Engineer specialized in Space Systems Engineering and MBSE. He has worked on multiple aerospace projects, applying MBSE to define system architectures, gather and define requirements, model and optimize complex systems, and ensure consistent integration across subsystems. He is especially interested in the design and optimization of space missions and systems, where MBSE plays a key role in handling complexity and ensuring mission success.

This webinar presents two projects from the University of Antioquia that apply a Model-Based Systems Engineering approach to space system development with Capella. Together, they illustrate how MBSE can support early design decisions, structure complex architectures and improve confidence in the feasibility of ambitious space missions.

The first project is MBSE Used for design and development of a PoC for a space simulation Vacuum Chamber

This project presents the design of a Proof of Concept (PoC) for a modular vacuum chamber intended to reproduce space conditions. Carried out with the support of Orbital Mining Corporation, it is based on a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach using the Capella tool and the Arcadia methodology to structure the operational, functional and physical architectures.

The system is designed to be versatile in order to enable various types of space simulations. Requirements have been defined and modelled, and an initial cost estimate has been carried out to assess feasibility. The result is a robust, scalable and adaptable technical model that will serve as a basis for future developments.

And the second project to be presented is A MBSE Approach to the Development of a Space-Based Observatory for NEO Detection

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids or comets that pass within 1.3 AU of the Sun and may cross Earth’s orbit, sometimes posing a risk of impact. Detecting them remains difficult, especially when they are too small or come from the direction of the Sun, rendering terrestrial observations ineffective.

This project proposes the preliminary design of a space observatory to detect and track these NEOs, which are invisible from the ground.

The approach is based on model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and the Capella tool to define the operational concept, model requirements and progressively develop the functional, logical and physical architectures, ensuring consistency and traceability in the design of a complex system.

We’re looking forward to everyone’s presence!
Link to register for the webinar: https://www.bigmarker.com/obeo/mbse-for-space-systems-design-with-capella-from-simulation-facilities-to-neo-detection?utm_bmcr_source=Forum

martinlb · February 6, 2026, 2:13pm

Hi everyone!

There were many questions for this webinar, and, as we were not able to answer all of them during the presentation, we now have written answers. Thanks to all participants for joining us, and thank you again Paula and Juan Felipe for presenting your work, and taking time to answer all the questions afterwards.

So, below are the answers to the questions:

Full Name	Question	Answer
Aran Singh	How long the model take to develop, and how many people were working on it? Did you have a lot of engagement with Orbital Mining to develop the model or was it developed independently? If there was engagement, how difficult was it to map their ideas into an MBSE model? Thanks in advance.	Already answered in live
Rajesh Kamma	For organizations that have already implemented matured own MBSE methodologies based on SysML, how do you recommend positioning Capella and Arcadia as a front-end MBSE tool without creating methodological conflicts or duplicated modeling effort?	Already answered in live
Ahmed Arshad	How can OPM ISO 19450 be used within MBSE to replace the cognitive and structural complexity of multiple SysML diagram types with a single unified system model? and Does CAPELLA support this current ISO 19450?	Already answered in live
Nazih Salhab	I see that there is a rapid vertical transition in the slides story-flow from an operational artifact to System level one, then to Logical/physical ones and End-Product Breakdown Structure I believe that in the ARCADIA workflow, it is envisioned the work is decomposed (Left-to-right) prior advancing Top-down. Is the work presented rapidly like this due to time constraints allocated for the presentation during the webinar, or do you propose that the Architecture Analysis and Design could be done like this?	Already answered in live
Oliver Ley	which resources would you recommend to learn Capella Arcadia for complex space systems, because most of the literature I found has only very simple examples wich are good to get the idea but are not directly applicable to complex systems like a satellite in my case.	Already answered in live
Nelson Ruiz	Paola, Why you used method Arcadia vs other method as OPM?	Already answered in live
Dennis Mathew	Can Capella provide complete traceability from requirements to architecture to implementation design and test specifications?	Already answered in live
Oliver Ley	How would you realize a transition from a spreadsheet based approach towards MBSE if you are already in Phase B (e.g. would you still do a OA and SA and use it to refine the results you already got like preliminary functions and architecture or do you think this will produce more overhead then benefits and start straight with modeling the preliminary functional and physical architecture that you already have defined)	Already answered in live
Jim Adams	Paula and Juan, have you heard of the CubeSat System Reference Model (CSRM) from OMG and INCOSE? It is currently instantiated in SysML in Cameo. There is interest in instantiating in other languages and tools.	Already answered in live
Rajesh Kamma	With many organizations actively preparing for SysML v2 and API-driven ecosystem, how do you see Capella evolving to coexist with SysML v2-based toolchains over the next few years?	Already answered in live
Gerard Ramírez	Very good presentation. I really liked how you applied MBSE to the problem of NEO detection; it’s clear that the approach helps to properly structure such a complex system. Which part of the system do you think benefited the most from the MBSE approach?	The MBSE approach, especially using the Arcadia method, was very beneficial in many ways. One of the main advantages is that it allows a clear understanding of how connections between subsystems work, first from a logical perspective and then through physical interfaces. This allowed a better understanding of these connections and ways to improve them.
Nelson Ruiz	How you realized dependence analysis between main components?	I analyzed the dependencies between the main components by looking at how they interact logically and how information or resources flow between them. Then, I examined the physical connections to see how the components are linked, which helped me understand how they depend on each other and identify critical connections.
Gayathri P Unnithan	Can Capella support communication design as well? like packing of signals? What kind of port \interfaces are used in this project?	For the space-based observatory, two packages were defined for the downlink. The first contains parameters about the status of the subsystems, used to assess their performance and whether any anomalies are present, transmitted via the S-band. The second package includes the observations collected by the payload, in this case the infrared instrument, using the Ka-band. The S-band is also used for the uplink.
Dennis Mathew	How can you define your interfaces between different physical components like hardware to hardware or hardware to mechanical in such an MBSE tool? Also does Capella provide a way to show a dynamic behavior of a system that involves interaction between system port and different physical components ?	In the physical architecture, interfaces between components must be explicitly defined, since at this stage the level of detail is already known. In the case of the space-based observatory, a subsystem-by-subsystem analysis was performed to better understand how each one interacts with the others. This allowed the ports and interfaces to be defined correctly.