AEROSPACE REPORT NUMBER: TOR-2009(8583)-8545, GUIDELINES FOR SPACE SYSTEMS CRITICAL GATED EVENTS (09 MAY 2008)

AEROSPACE REPORT NUMBER: TOR-2009(8583)-8545, GUIDELINES FOR SPACE SYSTEMS CRITICAL GATED EVENTS (09 MAY 2008)., In the space industry, critical gates and the criteria for those gates vary widely across the customers, programs, and contractors. Often, space products move to the next phase of the lifecycle without attaining an appropriate level of maturity. Significant mission and programmatic risk is incurred throughout the program lifecycle by inconsistent processes, terminoloy, and criteria of the gated review process. By establishing a common set of “gated events” used across the space industry – common gates, objectives, and entrance and exit criteria would serve to align government and contractors regarding: (i) What constitutes the critical points in the lifecycle; (ii) High-level requirements via entrance and exit criteria; and (iii) Establishment of a common vernacular to eliminate confusion about objectives and criteria.