1977-1997 - 20 YEARS OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING STANDARDIZATION IN ESA

Almost exactly twenty years ago, in May 1977, ESA's Board for Software Standardisation and Control (BSSC) was established. Since that time, the BSSC has produced a highly successful software engineering standar d, first issued in 1984, which has been applied extensively in ESA, Th is article describes the development and validation of ESA Software En gineering Standards, as well as a version of the standards for use in small projects - the so-called PSS-05 ''rite.'' The results of compari ng the ESA Software Engineering Standards with international standards such as ISO 9001/9000-3 and ISO 12207 are summarised, Work in progres s is discussed, in particular the production of a guide on the applica tion of PSS-05-0 in projects using object-oriented technology, togethe r with future plans.