This document specifies the general characteristics, performance, design, test, checkout, maintenance, safety, reliability, maintainability and quality requirements for ground support equipment (GSE) and systems intended for use at launch, landing or retrieval-site installations, or other locations that are the responsibility of the launch, landing and retrieval site. This document does not specify how to design, checkout and maintain GSE, but establishes the minimum requirements to provide simple, robust, safe, reliable, maintainable and cost-effective GSE.

This document is applicable to the design, checkout and maintenance of non-flight hardware and software used to support the operations of transporting, receiving, handling, assembly, inspection, test, checkout, service, launch and recovery of space vehicles and payloads at the launch, landing or retrieval sites. As such, the requirements of this document are optional for hardware used only at the manufacturing, development or test sites prior to arrival at the launch, landing or retrieval sites. However, if such GSE is dual use equipment to be also at a launch, landing or retrieval site, for whatever reason, all the safety-related requirements of this document apply to the GSE.