Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of the Deep Space Interoperability Standards?
To enable academia, industry, government agencies and international entities to independently develop systems for deep space exploration that would be compatible aboard any spacecraft, irrelevant of the spacecraft developer.
Who developed these international interoperability standards?
The standards were developed collaboratively with support from NASA and the International Space Station (ISS) partner agencies.
Why release the interoperability standards into the public domain?
Released versions have been approved for export control and are available to all in the public domain. New revisions, which add content based on identified space exploration needs or new technical details, are reviewed and released as needed.
Why are you seeking comments on the standards?
Encouraging feedback from a broader community will support global contributions to the standards and improve the content of the interoperability standards document suite.
Why are you providing these nine documents?
The international interoperability suite of documents focuses on topics prioritized in this early phase of exploration planning that will help enable development of compatible systems and elements for deep space exploration.
What spacecraft do these standards apply to?
The first application of these standards was to the Gateway element of the Artemis program and is being applied, as appropriate, to other Artemis elements. However, these standards are meant to be applicable to the LEO, cis-lunar, lunar surface, cis-Mars, and Martian surface environments between the Earth, Moon and Mars system.
When is the next revision of a standard?
These standards will be updated with approved revisions as needed. Drafts of future standards will be posted to this site when additional content or changes to existing standards are developed or when new standards are proposed.
With these standards, will anyone be able to send spacecraft or experiments to Gateway?
Anyone will be able to design compatible systems at the interface level if they implement these standards. However, payload manifest and design are complex processes that require many agreements between parties. They may require specific designs that are not addressed in these standards.
Why not use the International Space Station (ISS) standards? Why reinvent the wheel?
The deep space interoperability standards are based on ISS standards with additional lessons learned incorporated from the collective experience of the international community and leverage existing globally recognized standards where possible.
Are there any existing standards that will also be applied to deep space exploration activities to foster interoperability?
Standards which are necessary for a deep space exploration system to perform its planned and contingency missions, and which require interoperability, will be identified, developed and approved as necessary.
When are comments due?
Comments are encouraged and will be reviewed in a future review cycle. At this time, edited and/or new content is added as needed. There is no set schedule for any standard update.