NASA Instrument Cost Model

The NASA Instrument Cost Model (NICM) is a suite of tools used to estimate the development cost of future NASA spaceflight instruments.  This includes both remote sensing and in-situ types of instruments. NICM is in wide use across many NASA centers and is available under access release restrictions to external organizations. NICM is sponsored by NASA HQ OCFO Strategic Investments Division and co-sponsored by JPL.

NICM is available for download from the ONCE Database for NASA Civil Servants and NASA Contractors on a current NASA contract.  External organizations can visit the NASA Software Catalog to request a copy of NICM.  New users can contact the NICM team or learn more by emailing:  NICM@jpl.nasa.gov

Training opportunities are periodically offered online, available one-on-one, or available at your Center.  Please contact the NICM team for the next scheduled training at: NICM@jpl.nasa.gov

• Q) I ran both the System Tool and The Subsystem Tool. Why am I getting different cost estimates for the same instrument?
• A) It is not unusual for the System Tool and the Subsystem Tool to yield different cost estimates. The two tools relies on different Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs), and those CERs rely on different portions of the NICM database.

As an example, let’s consider estimating the cost of a Fields Instrument:

• The System Tool only uses Fields Instrument actual data to create the CER for estimating Fields Instruments
• However, at the subsystem level, instruments did not segregate themselves by instruments types. For example, mechanical/structures $/kg is not distinguishable between Fields, Particles, Microwave and Optical Instruments.
• Hence, when creating a cost estimate for a Fields Instrument in the Subsystem Tool, the individual subsystem costs estimates often include non-Fields instrument data – which is not the case in the System Tool.
• Bottom line: The System and Subsystem Tool both create estimates using different parts of the NICM database.

Continuing the above example, let’s now consider the different cost drivers between the System Tool and Subsystem Tool, focusing on mass:

• The System Tool utilizes Total Mass as a cost driver. This represents a typical mass distribution for a particular instrument type.
• The Subsystem Tool utilizes subsystem masses, allowing for the user to put in off-typical mass distributions.
• For example, the user could put an above-average proportion of mass into the higher $/kg subsystems, leading to a higher cost estimate.
• Or, the user could do the opposite, and put an above-average proportion of mass into the lower $/kg subsystems, leading to a lower cost estimate.
• Bottom line: The System and Subsystem Tool both use different cost drivers.

• Q) I ran both the System Tool and The Subsystem Tool. The two approaches yield different cost estimates. Which cost estimate should I rely on?

• Q) Does the NICM estimate include the cost of an engineering unit?
• A) The actual cost data collected by the NICM team does include engineering unit costs, where engineering units were developed, which is most cases. So, yes, the NICM estimate can be considered to cover the cost of an engineering unit.