NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 8715.7B Effective Date: April 27, 2020 Expiration Date: April 27, 2030

Subject: Payload Safety Program

Responsible Office: Office of Safety and Mission Assurance

Preface

P.1 Purpose

a. This directive defines the NASA Payload Safety Program.

b. The purpose of the NASA Payload Safety Program is to safeguard people and assets (including flight hardware and facilities) from hazards associated with NASA payloads (including those at facilities not controlled by NASA) during testing, processing, integration to the launch vehicle components, launch (up to payload separation from the launch vehicle) and planned recovery of payload and samples.

P.2 Applicability

a. This directive is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities, and Technical and Service Support Centers. This language applies to Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (a Federally-Funded Research and Development Center), other contractors, recipients of grants, cooperative agreements, and other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contracts, grants, or agreements.

b. This directive is applicable to NPR 7120.5, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements and NPR 7120.8, NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements.

c. This directive is applicable to uncrewed orbital and uncrewed deep space payloads that fly onboard launch vehicles (including aircraft-assisted launch vehicles) and are managed by NASA. Whether developed by NASA or any contractor or independent agency in a joint venture with NASA.

d. This directive is applicable to NASA projects involving design, fabrication, testing, integration, processing, launch, and recovery of payloads and the design of ground support equipment (GSE) used to support payload-related operations during prelaunch operations and during recovery.

e. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The terms: "may" denotes a discretionary privilege or permission, "can" denotes statements of possibility or capability, "should" denotes a good practice and is recommended, but not required, "will" denotes expected outcome, and "are/is" denotes descriptive material.

f. In this directive, all document citations are assumed to be the latest version unless otherwise noted.

P.3 Authority

NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 8700.1, NASA Policy for Safety and Mission Success.

P.4 Applicable Documents and Forms

a. NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 8715.1, NASA Safety and Health Programs.

b. NASA-Standard (STD)-8719.24, NASA Payload Safety Requirements.

c. NASA-STD-8719.24, Annex To NASA-STD-8719.24 NASA Payload Safety Requirements: Requirements Table.

d. NASA Form (NF) 1825, NASA Payload Safety Hazard Report.

e. NF 1851, Certificate of Payload Safety Compliance.

P.5 Measurement/Verification

Compliance with the requirements contained in this directive is monitored by the Centers, the Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Technical Authority, and by the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. Compliance may also be verified as part of selected life cycle reviews and by assessments, reviews, and audits of the requirements and processes defined within this directive.

P.6 Cancellation

NPR 8715.7A, Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) Payload Safety Program, dated February 24, 2014.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS

This document does not bind the public, except as authorized by law or as incorporated into a contract. This document is uncontrolled when printed. Check the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) Library to verify that this is the correct version before use: https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov.