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• April 19, 2016 Create Date
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Structural Design and Test Factors of Safety for Spaceflight Hardware

The purpose of this standard is to establish NASA structural strength design and test factors, as
well as service life factors to be used for spaceflight hardware development and verification. It
is intended to reduce space project costs and schedules by enhancing the commonalty of use of
hardware designs among NASA flight projects, Centers, and their contractors. While it is true
that structural designs are sometimes governed by criteria other than strength, the criteria in this
document are to be considered as minimum acceptable values unless adequate engineering risk
assessment is provided which justifies the use of lower values.
This standard recommends engineering practices for NASA programs and projects. It may be
cited in contract, program, and other Agency documents as a technical requirement.
Requirements are numbered and indicated by the word “shall.” Explanatory text or guidance is
indicated in italics beginning in section 4.
Tailoring of this standard for application to a specific program or project shall be
formally documented as part of program/proj ect requirements and approved by the assigned
Technical Authority.
Determining the suitability of this standard and its provisions is the responsibility of
program/proj ect management and the performing organization. Proj ect—specific tailoring may
generate other project-specific requirements that are derivatives of this standard.
NASA programs and projects that do not meet the provisions of this document shall be
assessed by the NASA Program Manager for the associated risk to the success of the planned
NASA mission and approved by the assigned Technical Authority.
This document shall not supersede applicable laws and regulations unless a specific
exemption has been obtained by the Office of the NASA Chief Engineer.
The criteria in this standard are applicable to payloads and launch vehicle structures (including
propellant tanks and solid rocket motor (SRM) cases). These criteria apply to flight hardware
that is utilized for NASA missions. The standard presents acceptable minimum factors of safety
for use in analytical assessment and test verification of structural adequacy of the flight
hardware. Designs must generally be verified by both structural strength analyses and tests.