The New Space economy stresses the importance of accurately identifying and fulfilling user needs in Earth observation mission design. Traditional systems engineering lacks effective mechanisms for user engagement and needs determination during early development phases. This study explores how novel methods for user needs collection and transformation can be integrated into systems engineering to enhance the formulation of mission requirements in conceptual design phases.

32 user-centric methodologies were identified, from which a trade-off analysis involving eleven experts selected two as most promising: Iterative Prototyping and Design Thinking. Both were adapted for integration into systems engineering and validated through a real-world Posidonia use case.

Results show that both methods improve early-stage user engagement and promote the elicitation of user needs. Iterative Prototyping supports continuous feedback and facilitates the derivation of mission requirements directly driven by user needs, while Design Thinking effectively frames problems but lacks a traceable path to technical specifications.

Solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are paramount under the current environmental circumstances. With methane and carbon dioxide being the most critical emission gasses, SigmaSat set out to find a way to reduce these emissions and simultaneously fulfill its scientific mission. While executing the scientific mission of designing a small satellite mission to demonstrate the latest advances in artificial intelligence, SigmaSat managed to devise a design that allows players in the energy production industry (such as refineries) to drastically reduce their methane and CO2 emissions.