Overview

This page describes the Space Systems requirements framework. The objectives of this page are to:

• Provide the team the right set of tools to tackle complex engineering design problems
• Describe the rationale behind the design of our requirements framework
• Convey this knowledge in an approachable format to serve as a reference for present and future technical leadership

This content is part of the Space Systems Crash Course. It can be viewed in presentation format here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voX1qSL_8vM

All team requirements can be found in the database.

What’s a Requirement?

At a fundamental level:

<aside> ⭐ A requirement is a description of what a system needs to be so as to be a valid solution to a given problem

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A requirement is a natural language-based representation of a system being engineered. They are formal statements that characterize the function, performance, or design of a system before it is brought into existence. Requirements are our team’s unified technical language. They are the driving force behind all design activities. Requirements can define:

• What a system must do
• The constraints on how a system is allowed to do what it must do
• How well a system must do what it does

Here’s an example of an actual (adapted) requirement for MDA’s Gateway External Robotics System (GERS), more commonly known as Canadarm3, Canada’s contribution to the Lunar Gateway project:

<aside> 🦾 The GERS shall be capable of performing inspection of Gateway’s exterior as verified through simulation

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We’ll break down the building blocks that make up requirements in subsequent sections.