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3.0.     NASA Program/Project Life Cycle
3.1      Program Formulation
3.2      Program Implementation
3.3      Project Pre-Phase A: Concept Studies
3.4      Project Phase A: Concept and Technology Development
3.5      Project Phase B: Preliminary Design and Technology Completion
3.6      Project Phase C: Final Design and Fabrication
3.7      Project Phase D: System Assembly, Integration and Test, Launch
3.8      Project Phase E: Operations and Sustainment    
3.9      Project Phase F: Closeout
3.10    Funding: The Budget Cycle
3.11    Tailoring and Customization of NPR 7123.1 Requirements

The purpose of Phase F is to implement the systems decommissioning and disposal planning and analyze any returned data and samples. The products of the phase are the results of the mission. The system engineer is involved in this phase to ensure all technical information is properly identified and archived, to answer questions, and to resolve issues as they arise.

Phase F deals with the final closeout of the system when it has completed its mission; the time at which this occurs depends on many factors. For a flight system that returns to Earth after a short mission duration, closeout may require little more than de-integrating the hardware and returning it to its owner. On flight projects of long duration, closeout may proceed according to established plans or may begin as a result of unplanned events, such as failures. Refer to NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 8010.3, Notification of Intent to Decommission or Terminate Operating Space Systems and Terminate Missions, for terminating an operating mission. Alternatively, technological advances may make it uneconomical to continue operating the system either in its current configuration or an improved one.

To limit space debris, NPR 8715.6, NASA Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital Debris, provides requirements for removing Earth-orbiting robotic satellites from their operational orbits at the end of their useful life. For Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, the satellite is usually deorbited. For small satellites, this is accomplished by allowing the orbit to slowly decay until the satellite eventually burns up in Earth’s atmosphere. Larger, more massive satellites and observatories should be designed to demise or deorbit in a controlled manner so that they can be safely targeted for impact in a remote area of the ocean. The Geostationary (GEO) satellites at 35,790 km above the Earth cannot be practically deorbited, so they are boosted to a higher orbit well beyond the crowded operational GEO orbit.

In addition to uncertainty about when this part of the phase begins, the activities associated with safe closeout of a system may be long and complex and may affect the system design. Consequently, different options and strategies should be considered during the project’s earlier phases along with the costs and risks associated with the different options.

Phase F: Closeout

Purpose
To implement the systems decommissioning/disposal plan developed in Phase E and perform analyses of the returned data and any returned samples.

Typical Activities and Their Products

  • Dispose of the system and supporting processes
  • Document lessons learned
  • Baseline mission final report
  • Archive data
  • Capture lessons learned
  • Perform required Phase F technical activities from NPR 7120.5
  • Satisfy Phase F reviews’ entrance/success criteria from NPR 7123.1

Reviews

  • DRR