A self-consistent method for the management of FMECA. Application to space telecommunication and observation systems

ALCATEL ESPACE is the European leader in the design and integration of satellite flight payloads and in the manufacturing of space electronics and antennae. These equipments represent a high level of complexity, cannot be repaired, and must satisfy requirements for long life (over ten years). For each project, the FMECA is an analysis performed for each equipment, subsystem, and system of the satellite. The FMECAs are updated by keeping an ascending coherence until the configuration of every level is finalized. Faced with the ever-increasing complexity of on-board satellite electronic systems, it has become necessary to use software in the production of FMECA. The paper considers how ALCATEL ESPACE decided to develop its own software tool to perform analyses at both equipment and subsystem levels