What technical review is necessary for a successful Milestone B prior to the Engineering and Manufacturing Development Phase?

The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) is a key technical review that assesses the design readiness of a system before transitioning into the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase. At this stage, the focus is on ensuring that the proposed design meets the operational requirements and that it is capable of being developed into a production model.

The PDR allows the development team to present the system architecture and design approach, including the preliminary analysis of performance and risks. This review is critical in identifying any major issues early and ensuring that the project stays on track before moving on to more detailed design work in the EMD phase. The success of Milestone B depends heavily on demonstrating that the design can meet requirements, and the PDR serves as a primary gatekeeping mechanism for that determination.

In contrast, the other technical reviews mentioned serve different purposes or occur at later stages in the development process. The Critical Design Review (CDR) is typically conducted after the PDR and focuses on confirming the detailed design before moving into production. The Integration Review and System Verification Review are also conducted at later stages to assess the integration of system components and verify system performance against specifications, respectively. Thus, these reviews do not precede Milestone B in the same way that the PDR