ABSTRACT
To increase the likelihood of mission success within the defense and aerospace community, and specifically within the space systems development community, various best practices, recommendations, and requirements related to safety, quality, and mission assurance have developed over time. The safety and mission assurance program is an interdisciplinary effort, typically drawing on the skills of various functional specialists. Hardware Quality Assurance and Software Quality Assurance focus on activities to ensure the quality of the end items being designed, developed, fabricated, assembled, integrated, and tested or otherwise used by the aerospace system. The approaches used to implement assurance activities can be categorized as product oriented, process oriented, or a mixture of both. In the development of aerospace systems, the developer and the acquirer tend to have different roles and responsibilities with respect to safety and mission assurance. The establishment, flow down, and management of safety and mission assurance requirements from the lead developer to subcontractors and suppliers is of critical import.
