In Aerospace, Defense, and Government (ADG) environments, software systems must be engineered for unwavering reliability because failure is not an option in mission-critical applications. Yet even the most well-structured plans are destined to evolve once real-world challenges arise. In complex projects, change is not just likely—it’s inevitable. The real challenge lies in adapting to change and managing it with precision and agility.
NASA’s software engineering process, codified in NPR 7150.2, reflects this philosophy through its robust Software Engineering Requirements (SWE), including SWE-079, which mandates configuration management across all stages of development. These standards are designed to account for shifts in requirements; discoveries made mid-project, unforeseen obstacles, and course corrections—all common in ADG software projects.
Configuration Management: A Cornerstone of Mission Success
Configuration management is the backbone of flexibility in high-stakes environments. It ensures that every stakeholder—from developers to program managers to end users—is aligned on the most current version of the system plan. This includes timelines and budgets, software designs, user manuals, test protocols, and more.
At DMC, we align with NASA’s NPR 7150.2 through our A.R.T.ful engineering approach: Accountable, Reliable, and Traceable. These principles guide our configuration management strategies, allowing all project components to be uniquely identified, versioned, and tracked. The result? A single source of truth that eliminates ambiguity and supports auditability, ensuring that all parts of the mission-critical system are consistent and verifiable.
Leveraging COTS Solutions for Agile Project Execution
To support this approach, DMC leverages industry-standard COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) solutions integrated with our custom tools to streamline configuration management. Our platform of choice is Atlassian Confluence, where we collaboratively build and maintain critical project documentation such as:
- Software Development Plans
- Configuration Management Plans
- Safety and Mission Assurance Plans
- Verification and Validation Plans
- Software Design Documents
- Requirement Coverage Tables
- and many more
These documents form the digital backbone of the project, providing traceability and control across all stages of the software engineering process.
CCIRT: A Purpose-Built Tool for ADG Configuration Management
To further enhance this system, DMC developed the Confluence Configuration Item Release Tool (CCIRT) in LabVIEW using the open-source LabVIEW Confluence API . CCIRT streamlines Configuration Item (CI) workflows, supporting:
- Creation
- Analysis
- Evolution
- Tracking
- Release
CCIRT offers a straightforward, user-friendly interface that helps teams monitor the current state of all configuration items at a glance. It highlights updates since the last release and seamlessly integrates with Confluence’s version-tracking capabilities.
This empowers teams to confidently review, assess, and manage changes, ensuring alignment and traceability across the entire project lifecycle.
In ADG projects, change is inevitable—but with the right processes, tools, and culture, it becomes a strategic advantage. At DMC, we ensure that mission-critical applications evolve in a controlled, collaborative, and compliant way—because, in this line of work, success depends on how well you adapt.
Your success is our mission, learn more about DMC's Test & Measurement Automation Solutions and contact us for your next project.
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Explore our other key topics in NPR 7150.2 compliance through the remainder of our ADG Mission-Critical Applications series:
- Building the Right Way with ARTful Design – Understand NASA NPR 7150.2 standards and their use for mission-critical ADG systems. We demonstrate how using A.R.T.ful design, COTS tools, and robust documentation strategies helps to meet and exceed those requirements.
- It All Starts with Documentation – Learn about the tools and digital ecosystems that form the baseline for persistent, searchable, and traceable project knowledge and planning. We’ll show how our use of platforms like Confluence, Monday.com, and SharePoint lays the groundwork for compliance with SWE-013 and other documentation-related requirements.
- Entrusting Your Mission's Objectives to a Partner – Communication is the first step in traceability. Learn how DMC captures client intent from day one, linking early conversations and contract documents into Requirement Traceability Matrices using Monday.com. This aligns directly with SWE-050 and SWE-052.
- Seeing Your Vision Take Shape Through Designs – Your vision must translate into tangible designs. Learn about how DMC maps requirements to designs using Confluence and custom integrations, generating a live Requirements Coverage Table and validating coverage bidirectionally per 7150.2.
- Turning Your Vision into Reality – Design becomes code. Learn how DMC's traceability extends into source code across multiple platforms (NI LabVIEW, Python, NI VeriStand), and how we maintain this alignment without overburdening developers.
- Quality Matters – Close the loop with testing and assurance. Learn how DMC utilizes technology such as GitLab, automated testing frameworks, and custom tooling to perform code reviews, trace test results to requirements, and verify quality compliance with NASA-STD-8739.8.