This Recommended Standard defines the EAST language used to create descriptions of data, called Data Description Records (DDRs). Such DDRs ensure a complete and exact understanding of the data and allow it to be interpreted in an automated fashion. A software tool is able to analyze a DDR, interpret the format of the associated data, and extract values from the data on any host machine (i.e., on a different machine from the one that produced the data). The current issue adds improvements/clarifications to the specification and adds a requirement to include the EAST version number in the logical part of a DDR.

The CCSDS conducts periodic reconfirmation reviews of its publications to assure their continued relevance. This Recommended Standard has been reconfirmed through June 2022.