Space Scientific Instrument Taxonomy (SSIT) Version 2.0

A scheme of classification, a taxonomy, provides a structure for communicating the components, traits, and commonalities in a diverse group. The Space Scientific Instrument Taxonomy (SSIT) was created to foster a common language in the varied space scientific instrument community. This second iteration, SSIT version 2.0, was updated based on industry feedback to the initial SSIT released in 2018. SSIT is a universal taxonomy encompassing the range of all space instrument types. It was designed to be compatible with other space instrument taxonomies but is of higher fidelity and broader in scope than any previously presented. The space instruments are classified in a three-level hierarchy based first on the phenomena being studied and then on how similar the instruments designs are, emphasizing traits that affect an instrument's complexity and cost. Each lower-level category is a subset of the one above. In this document the categories are presented in an outline manner and have been numbered for easier reference. For each category, there is a description along with examples of the types of instruments and measurements typically associated with that category. Decision trees are also provided to aid the user to determine the proper categorization of an instrument. SSIT version 2.0 is ready for wider application and has started to be used in industry. It is intended to be an open collaboration that is improved, edited, and re-edited over time based on industry feedback with the goal of increasing community adoption.