NASA 's Johnson Space Center ( JSC ) has utilized COTS products in its programs since the early 1990 's . Recently it has become evident that , of all failure modes possible , radiation will probably dominate ; sometimes to the point of driving system architecture . It is now imperative that radiation susceptibility be addressed when writing the system requirements . Susceptibility assessment , e.g. testing , must begin early in the design phase to establish performance and continue through the hardware qualification program to prove satisfaction of the original requirements(s ) . Examples of requirements , testing , and architecture versus failure rate will be given .