The NASA Systems Engineering Handbook
provides top-level guidelines for good systems engineering practices. It consists of six core chapters: - Fundamentals of Systems Engineering
- NASA program/project life cycles
- From a Concept to a Design
- From a Design to a Final Product
- Crosscutting Management Processes
- Special Topics in Systems Engineering

The SEMP Content Outline in Appendix J provides guidance for constructing a Systems Engineering Management Plan. The topics in Appendix J can be used as a checklist for constructing a SEMP.

The NASA Systems Engineering Handbook
provides general guidance on systems engineering and best practices and pitfalls to avoid. This handbook describes systems engineering as it should be applied to the development and implementation of large and small NASA programs and projects.
NASA has defined different life cycles that specifically address the major project categories, or product lines, which are: Flight Systems and Ground Support (FS&GS), Research and Technology (R&T), Construction of Facilities (CoF), and Environmental Compliance and Restoration (ECR). The technical content of the handbook provides systems engineering best practices that should be incorporated into all NASA product lines. For simplicity this handbook uses the FS&GS product line as an example. The specifics of FS&GS can be seen in the description of the life cycle and the details of the milestone reviews.
The engineering of NASA systems requires a systematic and disciplined set of processes that are applied recursively and iteratively for the design, development, operation, maintenance, and closeout of systems throughout the life cycle of the programs and projects.
This edition is printed on high quality paper with an attractive, durable cover.