The Product Assurance and AIV strategy from the ASTRI Mini-Array project to the SST Programme

The ASTRI Mini-Array is an international project led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to construct and operate an observatory dedicated to gamma-ray astronomy in the TeV spectral band. The ASTRI Mini-Array is currently under construction and will consist of an array of nine innovative Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes located at the Teide Astronomical Observatory, operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). In this work we present the Product Assurance programme we have implemented in the project framework, which defines the strategy and the organization for the management of the quality control. We also describe the adopted assembly, integration and verification approach, which foresees that the telescopes are first of all integrated and verified in factory by the supplier; only if this phase is successfully passed, they are preliminary accepted and moved to the Teide Observatory for the final on-site validation by INAF. Finally, we report how the experience gained with ASTRI and the lessons learned will be used in view of the Small Sized Telescopes to be provided for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory.