What is AS9100?
AS9100 is the quality management system standard for aviation, space, and defense organizations. Published by SAE and developed by the International Aerospace Quality Group, the current revision (AS9100D) incorporates the full ISO 9001:2015 standard and adds requirements specific to aerospace, including counterfeit-part prevention, product safety, and configuration management.
AS9100 is the aviation, space, and defense quality management standard.
AS9100 is the quality management system standard for organizations that design, build, or service aerospace products. It is published by SAE International and was developed by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), a worldwide body of aerospace primes and suppliers that maintains a common quality standard so a supplier is not audited differently by every customer.
The current revision is AS9100D. It is not a standalone document in the usual sense: it embeds the complete text of ISO 9001:2015 and then adds the requirements that aviation, space, and defense demand. Certification to AS9100 is frequently a precondition for supplying prime contractors and government programs, and it is verified through the industry OASIS database rather than taken on trust.
This page is general guidance, not certification, legal, or audit advice. Confirm the exact revision and requirements against SAE as the publisher and against your contract.
AS9100 is ISO 9001 plus aerospace-specific requirements.
The cleanest way to understand AS9100 is as a superset of ISO 9001. Everything in ISO 9001:2015 is in AS9100D, and then roughly a hundred additional requirements address risks the general standard never anticipated. An organization certified to AS9100 satisfies ISO 9001 as well; an organization certified only to ISO 9001 does not satisfy AS9100. These are the additions that matter most.
Counterfeit-part prevention
Controls to detect and exclude counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect parts from the supply chain, a risk with safety and security consequences in aerospace.
Product safety
Explicit planning and management of product safety throughout the product life cycle, beyond general conformity to specification.
Configuration management
Disciplined control of product configuration and changes so the as-built state is known and traceable, essential for long-life aircraft and space systems.
Risk and human factors
Operational risk management and explicit attention to human factors in the causes of nonconformity, on top of the risk-based thinking already in ISO 9001.
AS9100 certification follows an audited, four-step path.
AS9100 is not self-declared. An accredited certification body audits the quality management system and issues the certificate, which is then registered in OASIS and maintained through surveillance audits. The path is consistent across organizations.
Build the QMS to AS9100D
Document and operate a quality management system that meets ISO 9001:2015 and the added aerospace requirements, then run it long enough to generate audit evidence.
Stage 1 readiness audit
An accredited certification body reviews documentation and readiness, confirming the system is designed correctly before the full audit.
Stage 2 certification audit
An on-site audit tests whether the system works in practice. Findings are closed out, and the certification body issues the AS9100 certificate.
OASIS registration and surveillance
The certificate is recorded in the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS), and surveillance audits over a three-year cycle keep it valid.
AS9100 is one of a family of aerospace quality standards.
The IAQG maintains related standards for different roles in the supply chain. AS9100 applies to organizations that design and manufacture aerospace products. AS9110 applies to maintenance, repair, and overhaul providers. AS9120 applies to distributors that buy, hold, and resell aerospace parts, where lot traceability and counterfeit-part control are the central concerns. Picking the right certificate depends on the role an organization plays, so confirm which standard a customer or program contractually requires before starting.
Lightbridge builds the systems an AS9100 quality program depends on.
Lightbridge does not issue AS9100 certificates: that is the role of an accredited certification body. Where Lightbridge adds value is the operational backbone an AS9100 system runs on. Lot and serial traceability, configuration and revision control, supplier and first-article quality records, nonconformance and corrective-action workflows, and disciplined document control all live in the ERP, and an auditor expects them to be reliable and complete.
Because Lightbridge accepts no vendor kickbacks, no reseller quotas, and no partner-tier incentives, its platform advice is driven by fit rather than commission. For aerospace and defense manufacturers, the right entry points are the Lightbridge ERP manufacturing practice and ERP advisory, which design the configuration and controls that make a quality program audit-ready. For the wider sector picture, return to the aerospace and defense hub.
AS9100: frequently asked questions
- What is AS9100?
- AS9100 is the internationally recognized quality management system standard for the aviation, space, and defense industries. It is published by SAE International and was developed by the International Aerospace Quality Group, an organization of aerospace primes and suppliers. The current revision, AS9100D, takes the entire ISO 9001:2015 quality management standard and adds requirements specific to aerospace, such as counterfeit-part prevention, product safety, configuration management, and operational risk management. An aerospace or defense supplier that certifies to AS9100 demonstrates, through an independent audit, that its quality system meets both the general ISO 9001 requirements and the stricter expectations of the sector. Certification is often a contractual condition for supplying primes and government programs.
- What is the difference between AS9100 and ISO 9001?
- AS9100 contains all of ISO 9001 and then adds to it. ISO 9001:2015 is the general, cross-industry quality management standard. AS9100D embeds that full standard and layers on roughly a hundred additional requirements written for aviation, space, and defense: counterfeit-part control, product-safety management, configuration management, stricter requirements for first-article inspection and special processes, and added attention to risk and human factors. The practical consequence is directional: an organization certified to AS9100 also satisfies ISO 9001, but an organization certified only to ISO 9001 does not satisfy AS9100. Aerospace primes and defense programs generally require AS9100 from suppliers precisely because the general standard does not address sector-specific risks.
- What does AS9100 certification involve?
- Certification is granted by an accredited certification body, not self-declared. An organization first builds and operates a quality management system that meets AS9100D, generating records that prove the system works. The certification body then conducts a two-stage audit: a Stage 1 readiness review of documentation, followed by a Stage 2 on-site audit of the system in practice. Once nonconformities are closed, the certificate is issued and recorded in the Online Aerospace Supplier Information System (OASIS), the database the industry uses to verify supplier certifications. Certificates run on a three-year cycle with regular surveillance audits and a recertification audit at the end. Lightbridge does not issue AS9100 certificates; that is the role of an accredited certification body.
- Who needs AS9100 certification?
- AS9100 applies to organizations across the aviation, space, and defense supply chain that design, manufacture, or service aerospace products. Prime contractors frequently require their suppliers to hold it, so a small machine shop or electronics manufacturer that wants to sell into aerospace programs often needs AS9100 to qualify as a vendor. Related standards in the same family cover adjacent roles: AS9110 applies to maintenance, repair, and overhaul organizations, and AS9120 applies to distributors of aerospace parts. An organization should confirm which standard a given customer or program contractually requires, since the right certificate depends on the role played in the supply chain.
- What is AS9100D?
- AS9100D is the current revision of the AS9100 standard, released in 2016. The letter D denotes the revision level. Its main change from the prior revision was aligning the standard with the 2015 edition of ISO 9001, which introduced the high-level structure now common to ISO management-system standards and a stronger emphasis on risk-based thinking and leadership. AS9100D also added or strengthened the aerospace-specific content around counterfeit parts, product safety, human factors, and ethics awareness. When a contract or customer refers simply to AS9100, it generally means the current AS9100D revision; confirm the exact revision required against the contract and against SAE as the publisher.
- How does Lightbridge help with AS9100?
- Lightbridge does not issue AS9100 certificates and is not a certification body. What it does is help aerospace and defense manufacturers put the operational backbone in place that an AS9100 quality system depends on: an ERP configured for lot and serial traceability, configuration and revision control, supplier and first-article quality records, nonconformance and corrective-action tracking, and the document control an auditor expects. Lightbridge works independent and vendor-neutral, so the platform and process advice is driven by fit rather than commission. The right entry points are the Lightbridge ERP manufacturing practice and ERP advisory, which design the systems that make a quality program audit-ready.
AS9100, AS9110, AS9120, and OASIS are standards and systems of SAE International and the International Aerospace Quality Group; ISO 9001 is a standard of the International Organization for Standardization. Lightbridge is independent and not affiliated with, or a certification body for, any of them. Verify the current revision and requirements against the official publisher.
From understanding AS9100 to running a system that passes the audit.
When the question shifts from what AS9100 requires to how your ERP and processes should support it, Lightbridge designs the traceability, configuration control, and quality records an aerospace audit depends on.