How do you ensure spacecraft systems requirements and specifications are validated?

2 Review Requirements and Specifications

The next step is to review your requirements and specifications to check for any errors, gaps, ambiguities, conflicts, or redundancies. You should use both formal and informal methods to review your requirements and specifications, such as inspections, peer reviews, walkthroughs, audits, checklists, and analysis tools. You should also involve the stakeholders who have the authority, knowledge, and interest in the requirements and specifications, such as the customers, users, developers, testers, and operators. The review process should identify and resolve any issues or risks that could affect the validity of your requirements and specifications.

3 Conduct Validation Tests

The third step is to conduct validation tests to verify that your requirements and specifications meet the validation criteria. Validation tests are the experiments, simulations, models, prototypes, demonstrations, or analyses that you perform to show that your requirements and specifications are realistic, achievable, and acceptable. You should design your validation tests to cover all the relevant aspects of your requirements and specifications, such as the functions, performance, interfaces, constraints, assumptions, and scenarios. You should also document your validation test plans, procedures, results, and conclusions.

4 Evaluate Validation Results

The fourth step is to evaluate your validation results to determine if your requirements and specifications are valid. You should compare your validation results with your validation criteria and assess if they meet or exceed the expected standards, methods, tools, and evidence. You should also analyze your validation results to identify any discrepancies, anomalies, deviations, or failures that could indicate a problem with your requirements and specifications. You should also document your evaluation methods, criteria, findings, and recommendations.

5 Implement Validation Feedback

The fifth step is to implement your validation feedback to improve your requirements and specifications. You should use your validation results and evaluation findings to identify and prioritize any changes, corrections, clarifications, or enhancements that you need to make to your requirements and specifications. You should also communicate your validation feedback to the stakeholders who are responsible for or affected by the requirements and specifications, such as the customers, users, developers, testers, and operators. You should also document your validation feedback actions, outcomes, and lessons learned.

6 Repeat Validation Process

The final step is to repeat your validation process until you achieve a satisfactory level of validity for your requirements and specifications. You should monitor and control your validation process to ensure that it is effective, efficient, and consistent. You should also measure and evaluate your validation process to ensure that it meets the project objectives, scope, and constraints. You should also update and refine your validation criteria, methods, tools, and evidence as you learn more about your requirements and specifications and the spacecraft system.