Mission Assurance and Spaceflight Reviews: How Space Programs Earn Confidence

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Space missions are built from confidence that has to be earned before anyone can repair the spacecraft by hand. Mission assurance is the habit of asking what the team knows, how it knows it, what remains uncertain, and what evidence justifies moving to the next phase. It is not a substitute for engineering judgment. It is the structure that keeps engineering judgment from disappearing into optimism, schedule pressure, or a persuasive slide deck.

Spacecraft Software Verification and Configuration Control: Trusting Code in Orbit

Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Spacecraft software is easy to underestimate because it rarely appears in the mission poster. The satellite may be described by its payload, orbit, antenna, solar arrays, or launch vehicle. Yet the mission’s behavior passes through code. Commands are checked by software. Telemetry is organized by software. Payload activities are scheduled by software. Fault responses are triggered by software. Updates, timers, memory, logs, modes, and autonomy all depend on software that has to behave far from the people who wrote it.

Spacecraft Testing on Fondsites

Mission Assurance and Spaceflight Reviews: How Space Programs Earn Confidence

Spacecraft Software Verification and Configuration Control: Trusting Code in Orbit