What serves as the basis for fabricating production representative prototype systems after a review?

The Critical Design Review (CDR) is pivotal in the systems engineering process, functioning as a key decision point where the design is evaluated against the established requirements. At this stage, the design is sufficiently mature and has been finalized enough to allow the team to have a high level of confidence that it can be built to meet those requirements.

During the CDR, detailed analyses and tests are conducted to ensure that the proposed designs are viable and aligned with the specified requirements and the project's objectives. The assessment made during the CDR is critical because it serves as the basis for proceeding with the fabrication of production representative prototype systems. This means that all aspects of the system's design architecture, as well as subsystem integration and performance capabilities, have been sufficiently reviewed and deemed acceptable.

Successful completion of the CDR signals that the design is ready for the next steps in the development process, making it the appropriate point from which to move forward with building prototypes that accurately reflect the design's specifications. This careful consideration at the CDR stage ensures that the prototypes will effectively simulate the expected performance of the final product, thus reducing risks associated with design errors down the line.