IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTIONS - THE LAUNCH SERVICES PROGRAM (LSP) FUNDED THE INITIAL PHASES OF A CRYO-TRACKER MASS GAUGING SYSTEM (MGS) FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO DEVELOP THE RGCT CONCEPT (PHASE 1) AS AN MGS FOR A CRYOGENIC ORBITAL TESTBED (SUCH AS CRYOTE), WITH THE INTENT OF USING THE TESTBED AS A TRUE FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION IN SPACE OF THE RGCT AND MGS DESIGNS. PHASE I AND II OF THIS PROJECT DEVELOPED THE FINAL DESIGN OF THE RGCT ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT (EDU). IN PARALLEL WITH THIS, ULA HAD BEEN FUNDED TO DEVELOP THE CONCEPT FOR THE RGCT TO CRYOTE TANK INTERFACES AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS. PHASE IIIA WILL FABRICATE THE DESIGNED EDU AS A PROTOTYPE TEST/FLIGHT UNIT. THE IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO BUILD PROTOTYPE FLIGHT AVIONICS HARDWARE, SUITABLE FOR SUPPORT OF IN-SPACE DEMONSTRATIONS, THAT WILL BE BASED UPON THE DESIGN OUTPUTS OF PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS. IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT NOT ALL APPLICATIONS OF THE REDUCED GRAVITY CRYO-TRACKER SYSTEM WILL REQUIRE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF QUALIFICATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESSES. WITH THIS IN MIND, THE HARDWARE BUILT UNDER THIS STUDY WILL BE A PROTOTYPE GRADE VERSION OF THE MORE EXPENSIVE, FULLY SPACE-QUALIFIED PRODUCT. THIS HARDWARE WILL BE SUITABLE FOR USAGE OUTSIDE OF A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT AND WILL OPERATE IN THE SAME WAY AS THE HIGHEST-GRADE VERSION, HOWEVER THERE MAY BE MINOR PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES. THE INTENT OF THIS APPROACH IS TO REDUCE TECHNICAL RISK IN A COST-EFFECTIVE MANNER BY FOLLOWING A PROTOQUAL TEST PLAN GUIDED BY DOD HDBK-343 CLASS B. THIS STREAMLINED APPROACH IS TYPICAL IN LOWER-RISK EXPERIMENTAL FLIGHT APPLICATIONS WHEN CONTRASTED WITH THE MORE FORMAL QUALIFICATION TESTING PATH USUALLY REQUIRED OF FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS (CLASS A). THIS CLASS A MORE RIGOROUS PATH IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE REQUIREMENT TO BUILD AN ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT (EDU), POTENTIALLY MULTIPLE QUALIFICATION TEST UNITS, AND EVENTUALLY PRODUCTION UNITS, ALL USING THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE GRADE COMPONENTS AT SUBSTANTIAL COST. THE PROTOTYPE APPROACH TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THIS EFFORT WILL PERMIT THE FABRICATION AND TESTING OF HARDWARE, FOR SUBSTANTIATION OF THE DESIGN AND HARDWARE FLIGHT WORTHINESS. THE TASKS INCLUDED IN THIS TECHNICAL APPROACH WILL BE CONDUCTED USING QUALIFIED KEY PERSONNEL. THE PROJECT ENGINEERING TO BE PERFORMED WILL INCLUDE INTERNAL TRACKING MEETINGS, AN INTERNAL KICK-OFF MEETING, AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING TO BE CONDUCTED INCLUDES PERFORMANCE OF A FINAL DESIGN REVIEW TO VERIFY AND VALIDATE CHANGES MADE AFTER THE PRELIMINARY AND CRITICAL DESIGN REVIEWS YET PRIOR TO CREATION OF THE PROTOTYPE.