Requirements Management for Mission Preparation at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC)

Abstract

Verification of a contract consisting of a lot of free text and no precise requirements is a complex task. This paper describes the approach taken at GSOC during the preparation of a geostationary communication satellite mission to make this task transparent and efficient for both the customer and the operations provider. For the management of contractual requirements the commercial software DOORS together with a few specific customizations was used. All requirements and activities related to their fulfillment were stored in a central database and linked with each other. For that reason complete traceability from contract to subsystem level tests, operational procedures, inspections and design documents could be ensured continuously. Manual generation of verification matrices was rendered unnecessary. An extraction tool made it possible to provide relevant information whenever requested to the customer who was not using DOORS. This approach also enabled verification of internal requirements and tracking of the execution status of the planned tests without additional effort. NomenclatureCDR = Critical Design Review DR = Detailed Requirement(s) ECSS = European Cooperation for Space Standardization PDR = Preliminary Design Review ORR = Operational Readiness Review SR = System Requirement(s) TAR = Technical Acceptance Review TR = Test Report TS = Test Specification TTP = Test and Training Plan

Requirements Management and Verification at GSOC - Experience gained and current development

“…The requirements management process setup in a prototype project was a great benefit in mission preparation 1 . In order to promote this positive experience various activities were performed to establish an in-house requirements management standard.…”

“…The major benefit for this project was simplified tracking of the requirements and their verification as well as the effective reporting for the customer 1 . The positive experience gained in this project was the motivation to establish an in-house standard that covers the needs in mission preparation.…”