8. Glossary

Operational Safety (SdF); Safety and Reliability

A branch of engineering that assesses and controls risks associated with the operation of a system. It encompasses reliability, maintainability, availability, and safety, and is essential for high-risk systems such as those in the space sector.

Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMEA)

A method for systematically analyzing potential failure modes in a system, their effects on overall operation, and their criticality. It allows corrective actions to be prioritized in order to improve reliability.

failure mode

Refers to the manner in which a component or system may fail to perform its intended function. Failure modes can take various forms, such as a short circuit, performance degradation, signal loss, etc....