What it Takes to Build a 21st Century Spacecraft — NASA Style

Source: NASA’s Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Transportation Services, NASA Office of the Inspector General, June 30, 2011

Ever wondered what it takes to build a spacecraft these days? NASA’s Certification Requirements for low Earth orbit missions include references to 93 (count ’em 93) documents that commercial crew providers must use to produce their vehicles. The documents are divided into three types:

• Type 1 – mandatory, must be implemented as written;
• Type 2 – alternatives allowed with NASA approval; and
• Type 3 – suggested best practices.

These are just top level requirements; each document refers to other documents that include additional requirements. “According to one estimate, NASA’s Certification documents contain more than 4,000 requirements,” the NASA Inspector General reports. The audit also states:

In May 2011, the Agency released for industry review and comment six draft documents (the 1100-series) that supplement the Certification Requirements relating to missions to the Space Station. These documents provide additional information to commercial partners regarding roles and responsibilities, technical management processes supporting certification, crew transportation system and Space Station services requirements, and the application of technical and operations standards….

NASA officials said they hope to strike a balance that will enable innovation and flexibility yet prescribe the minimum number of requirements deemed essential to ensure the safety of NASA’s astronauts.

A full breakdown of the 93 documents by type follows.

Source: NASA’s Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Transportation Services, NASA Office of the Inspector General, June 30, 2011