{"id":525919,"date":"2023-09-27T10:46:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T14:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=525919"},"modified":"2023-09-27T10:46:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T14:46:21","slug":"technology-readiness-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/somd\/space-communications-navigation-program\/technology-readiness-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology Readiness Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) are a type of measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. Each technology project is evaluated against the parameters for each technology level and is then assigned a TRL rating based on the projects progress. There are nine technology readiness levels. TRL 1 is the lowest and TRL 9 is the highest.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-fit \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"948\" height=\"1046\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?w=948\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"A chart displaying Technology Readiness Levels 1 through 9\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png 948w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=272,300 272w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=768,847 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=928,1024 928w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=363,400 363w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=544,600 544w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?resize=816,900 816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 948px) 100vw, 948px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Technology Readiness Levels<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>When a technology is at TRL 1, scientific research is beginning and those results are being translated into future research and development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TRL 2 occurs once the basic principles have been studied and practical applications can be applied to those initial findings. TRL 2 technology is very speculative, as there is little to no experimental proof of concept for the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When active research and design begin, a technology is elevated to TRL 3. Generally both analytical and laboratory studies are required at this level to see if a technology is viable and ready to proceed further through the development process. Often during TRL 3, a proof-of-concept model is constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/heo\/scan\/engineering\/technology\/technology_readiness_level\"><\/a>Once the proof-of-concept technology is ready, the technology advances to TRL 4. During TRL 4, multiple component pieces are tested with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TRL 5 is a continuation of TRL 4, however, a technology that is at 5 is identified as a breadboard technology and must undergo more rigorous testing than technology that is only at TRL 4. Simulations should be run in environments that are as close to realistic as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the testing of TRL 5 is complete, a technology may advance to TRL 6. A TRL 6 technology has a fully functional prototype or representational model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TRL 7 technology requires that the working model or prototype be demonstrated in a space environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TRL 8 technology has been tested and “flight qualified” and it’s ready for implementation into an already existing technology or technology system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once a technology has been “flight proven” during a successful mission, it can be called TRL 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) are a type of measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. Each technology project is evaluated against the parameters for each technology level and is then assigned a TRL rating based on the projects progress. There are nine technology readiness levels. TRL 1 is the lowest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":525923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"323","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3315,10576],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[11359],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Technology Readiness Levels","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/somd\/space-communications-navigation-program\/technology-readiness-levels\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/somd\/space-communications-navigation-program\/technology-readiness-levels\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png"},"articleSection":"NASA Directorates","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Catherine G. Manning"}],"creator":["Catherine G. Manning"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Technology","Communicating and Navigating with Missions","Space Communications & Navigation Program"],"dateCreated":"2023-09-27T14:46:20Z","datePublished":"2023-09-27T14:46:20Z","dateModified":"2023-09-27T14:46:21Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Technology Readiness Levels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/somd\/space-communications-navigation-program\/technology-readiness-levels\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2023-09-27T14:46:20Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Directorates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Technology,Communicating and Navigating with Missions,Space Communications & Navigation Program\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Catherine G. Manning\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":2,"time_ago":"9 months","featured_image":{"id":525923,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/trl.png","title":"trl","alt":"A chart displaying Technology Readiness Levels 1 through 9","caption":"Technology Readiness Levels"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525919"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525919"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525930,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525919\/revisions\/525930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525919"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=525919"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=525919"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=525919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}