This page features international deep space standards adopted by NASA’s Moon to Mars program and for Gateway, NASA’s lunar-orbiting outpost.
International Deep Space Standards
These international interoperability standards — developed in collaboration with the international community — define interfaces and environments to facilitate cooperative deep space exploration endeavors. These standards focus on priority topics for the early phases of exploration planning; they are not intended to dictate design features beyond interfaces. Stakeholders from the global spaceflight community may provide comments or feedback on these standards through the form at the bottom of this page.
Moon to Mars Standards
Communications
Revision: B – April 2024 | The communications standard defines the functional, interface and performance standards necessary to support interoperable and compatible communications between spacecraft, ground infrastructure, other space and surface vehicles. (Adopted by the agency in 2024 through the Architecture Concept Review process.)
Gateway Standards
Avionics
Revision: Baseline – March 2019 | The avionics standard provides basic common design parameters that allow developers to independently design compatible Avionics systems. Specifies data link protocols and physical layer options that may be used to architect the interfaces between both spacecraft subsystems and vehicles themselves.
Docking
Revision: F – July 2022 | The International Docking System Standard (IDSS) Interface Definition Document (IDD)* Establishes a standard docking interface to enable collaborative endeavors between the international space fairing community while also supporting possible crew rescue operations.
ECLSS
Revision: Baseline – March 2019 | The Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) standard provides basic common design performance parameters to allow developers to independently develop compatible life support systems.
Power
Revision: A – July 2022 | The power standard defines bus voltage, power quality, and grounding approaches to ensure commonality, reliability, interchangeability, and interoperability for electrical load applications between space application power systems.
Rendezvous
Revision: Baseline – March 2019 | The rendezvous standard provides basic common design parameters to allow developers to independently design compatible rendezvous operations.
Robotics
Revision: Baseline – March 2019 | The robotics standard provides a set of common design parameters to allow module, visiting vehicle, and on-orbit relocatable or replaceable unit providers to design robotic system compatible elements.
Thermal
Revision: Baseline – August 2019 | The thermal standard documents fluids to be employed in connected active external and/or internal coolant loops, and requirements for coldplates that interface directly to those coolant loops.
Software
Revision: Baseline – September 2020 | The software standard provides basic data interfaces that allow developers to independently design compatible cislunar and deep space spacecraft software systems.
