Throughout history man has endeavoured to achieve flight but in many ways the success of the first powered flight, by the Wright Brothers in 1903, marked the beginning of the aerospace industry as we know it. That was over 100 years ago and today the industry continues to move forward at a fast pace, encompassing aeronautics and space exploration.

The principles of flight are now well understood but today much of the control is implemented through electronic systems and, increasingly, software. The development of safety critical systems for use in these vehicles is now controlled through the specification: DO-178 Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification.

The development of DO-178 compliant software represents a significant market sector within the aerospace industry and comprises software development tools and software verification tools. PRQA now offers a Qualification Pack for its industry-leading static analysis tool QA·C++. Projects developed using the qualification pack are eligible for certification for the DO-178 Objectives: A-5(4) 'Source Code conforms to standards', and A-5(6) 'Source Code is accurate and consistent'.