National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Fiscal Year 2022 Agency Report

1. Please provide a summary of your agency’s activities undertaken to carry out the provisions of 

OMB Circular A-119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus 

Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities” and the National Technology Transfer and 

Advance Act (NTTAA). The summary should contain a link to the agency’s standards-specific 

website(s) where information about your agency’s standards and conformity assessment related 

activities are available. 

Proven, consensus-based standards are critical in defining engineering, safety and mission assurance, 

and health and medical requirements for NASA missions. These technical standards include, but are not 

limited to, voluntary consensus standards (VCS) cited in NASA directives and technical standards, other 

government agency standards, NASA technical standards, and NASA-endorsed standards. As NASA 

technical standards are developed and revised, more VCS are incorporated where appropriate. Many 

examples of NASA Technical Standards citing use of VCS, and access to those VCS, can be found on the 

NASA Technical Standards System Web site at https://standards.nasa.gov. NASA requires, prior to 

proposing development, revision, or revalidation of a NASA technical standard, a determination be 

made whether a VCS exists or is in development that meets or can be tailored to meet NASA’s needs. 

NASA technical discipline experts also evaluate the opportunity to replace an existing NASA technical 

standard with a VCS or propose conversion to a VCS, thereby reducing duplicate standards. NASA 

follows the process required for VCS specified in OMB Circular A-119: openness, balance, due process, 

appeals process, and consensus. NASA also promotes the use of VCS by identifying and approving NASAendorsed technical standards, a “pick list” of technical standards to consider first when selecting 

program and project requirements. These activities facilitate selection and use of VCS in lieu of NASA 

technical standards or other government agency standards in compliance with OMB Circular No. A-119.

NASA directly cites OMB Circular A-119 and the preference for use of VCS and participation in VCS 

bodies’ activities in NASA directives (NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7120.4, NASA Engineering and 

Program/Project Management Policy, and NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7120.10, Technical 

Standards for NASA Programs and Projects).

NASA encourages participation in VCS developing bodies and collects data on participation in 

development and revision of VCS. During this reporting period, 124 NASA representatives participated in 

425 VCS development/revision activities in 30 Standards Developing Bodies. NASA’s participation in VCS 

development/revision activities increased from 257 participants in FY2021 to 425 in FY2022, an increase 

of over 65 percent. 

A NASA representative chairs the ISO TC20/SC14 Subcommittee for Space Systems and Operations in 

support of promoting use of VCS. The committee’s scope of work is the standardization for manned and 

unmanned space vehicles, their design, production, maintenance, operation, and disposal, and the 

environment in which they operate. Six working groups provide an international forum for addressing 

the standardization needs and concerns of organizations and personnel involved with the development 

and operation of space systems. NASA currently supports the development/revision of over 13 ISO 

TC20/SC14 international consensus standards.

NASA cites as requirements for test methods 4 ASTM standards, 10 American Welding Society (AWS) 

standards, 26 SAE International (SAE) standards, 2 Government Electronics and Information Technology 

Association (GEIA) (SAE International) standards, 2 National Aerospace Standards (NAS) standards, and 1
Battelle Memorial Institute standard. As new revisions are developed, more VCS are incorporated where 

appropriate. NASA-STD-6012A, recently revised, cites 1 AWS, 14 ASTM, and 10 SAE standards.

NASA is well represented on AIAA committees to promote development/revision and use of VCS, as 

these standards are applied on many NASA programs and projects in lieu of NASA standards. Some 

examples are the AIAA Aerospace Pressure Vessels Committee; AIAA S-080, Space Systems - Metallic 

Pressure Vessels, Pressurized Structures, and Pressure Components; AIAA S-081, Space Systems -

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs); AIAA S-082 202x, Space Systems - Composite 

Overwrapped Pressure Vessels with a Composite Liner; AIAA S-110, Space Systems - Structures, 

Structural Components, and Structural Assemblies; AIAA-S-113, Criteria for Explosive Systems and 

Devices on Space and Launch Vehicles; AIAA-S-136 -202x, Battery Safety Standard for Space 

Applications; AIAA-S-144-202X, Code Verification in Computational Fluid Dynamics; AIAA G-095, Guide 

to Safety of Hydrogen and Hydrogen Systems; and AIAA R-091A-2020, Calibration and Use of Internal 

Strain-Gage Balances with Application to Wind Tunnel Testing.

 

NASA serves as the secretariat for Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) leading the 

Spacecraft Onboard Interface Services (SOIS) committee with multiple standards development 

activities. The SOIS approach is to standardize the interfaces between items of spacecraft equipment by 

specifying well-defined standard service interfaces and protocols which allow standardized access to 

sensors, actuators, and generic spacecraft functions, allowing spacecraft applications to be developed 

independently of the mechanisms that provide these services.

2. Please list the government-unique standards (GUS) your agency began using in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2022. Please note that GUS which are still in effect from previous years 

should continue to be listed, thus the total number in your agency's report will include all GUS 

currently in use (previous years and new as of this FY):

This agency reports voluntary consensus standards usage on a categorical basis.