scope:

Abstract:

The fully assembled NOAA N-Prime satellite was significantly damaged after sliding off an improperly configured cart while being rotated from a vertical position to a horizontal orientation for an instrument shimming operation at the prime contractor»s facility on September 6, 2003.

This document presents several lessons learned and recommendations for proactive measures to prevent a recurrence of this unfortunate accident. They may be considered applicable to any government/contractor collaborative relationship established to build, test, and launch space flight hardware. The lessons learned relate to the Integration and Test (I&T) phase of the satellite development life cycle and are particularly relevant to long duration projects.