ECSS - European Cooperation for Space Standardization

Abstract

European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) is an initiative established to develop a coherent, single set of user-friendly standards for use in all European space activities. In the autumn of 1993, several national space agencies in Europe, ESA and the European space industry joined forces to start developing space standards. ECSS standards must improve industrial efficiency and competitiveness, and satisfy European and international clients. The standards will apply as needed to any party participating in the definition, development, manufacturing, verification or operation of any assembly, equipment, subsystem or service used for any space mission. 1. INTRODUCTION ECSS, which stands for European Cooperation for Space Standardization, is an initiative designed to develop a coherent single set of user-friendly standards for the European space community which in this case means ESA and its member states, including their space industries. The European space business suffers from the multiplicity of standards and requirements used by the different space agencies in Europe. Although these requirements are essentially similar, the impact of the differences is nonetheless serious, leading in particular to high costs, lower effectiveness, a less compelitive industry and possible errors. This situation is expected to last until ECSS produces its standards, which will in turn help to solve the aforementioned problems. Back in 1988, in an attempt to improve the situation, Eurospace asked the director-generals of both ESA and CNES to make their organizations' product assurance requirements consistent. Efforts were pursued from 1991 to 1993 to meet this objective. By the end of that period, the European space community was in a position to meet this challenge. Based on a commercially oriented strategy, forces were joined to build a more comprehensive, coherent system to encompass space business activities as a whole rather than dealing only with product assurance aspects. The European space industry was therefore fully associated with ECSS from the outset. ECSS was actually born in the autumn of 1993, when the partners signed the ECSS terms of reference (TOR), which define the basic rules of the system. At this point, the partners jointly undertook the development of the system, designed to meet the main objective of providing a single coherent set of standards for use in all European space activities and particularly projects. 2. IMPORTANCE OF STANDARDS Today, standards are no longer considered as just impressive stacks of dusty papers containing unjustified requirements or constraints. Standardization is generally viewed as a process driving commercial viability and success. Successful companies recognise that developing and using standards is the path to remaining competitive and producing quality products In the first ECSS-industry meeting in October 1993, the ESA Director General stated that the time had come to harmonise existing space standards and to implement a system of common standards to enable the European space industry to become more efficient, more capable and more competitive in general. He stressed several points: • These standards must satisfy all European and international clients; Copyright © 1996 by CNES. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. with permission 1 El Gammal • Existing standards which satisfy the require-ment should be retained, and new ones should be developed on the basis of solid reasoning and experience; • The European space industry must be a full partner in the preparation, writing and validation of these standards. Globally accepted European and international standards can promote the development, manufacture and sale of high-quality space products, which are not only demanded by the domestic clients, but also meet the needs of international customers. By abolishing the multiplicity of project requirements of the various partners in ECSS, and concentrating on a single set of standards from which all generic requirements of future space projects would be derived this initiative should drive an increase in industrial efficiency. This policy will generate more recurring products or services at reduced cost with consistently high quality. Standardization is an important tool during all programme phases to both reduce costs and enhance quality and communications. The goal of the ECSS standardization initiative system is to minimise life-cycle costs, while continually improving the quality, functional integrity and compatibility of all elements of a project. This will be achieved by applying common standards to hardware, software, information and all activities within a given project, and between different projects. 3. SCOPE OF ECSS STANDARDS ECSS standards are being drawn up for space projects and applications within the following categories: • project management requirements; • requirements for design, development, manufacturing, and verification of space systems and their constituent parts; • technical requirements for assemblies, equipment, subsystems and systems used for space missions. The ECSS standards will apply as needed to any party participating in the definition, development, manufacturing, verification or operation of any assembly, equipment, subsystems, system or service used for a European element of any space mission.