Arthur McMiler
Lockheed Martin has turned over to NASA the Orion spacecraft that the company assembled and tested for the agency’s 2026 Artemis II manned moon mission.
Kirk Shireman, Lockheed vice president of human space exploration and Orion program manager, said in a statement issued Thursday that the spacecraft’s completion is “a major step forward” in U.S. efforts to establish a long-term lunar presence.
“It’s exciting to think that soon, humans will see the Earth rise over the lunar horizon from our vehicle, while also traveling farther from Earth than ever before,” the Lockheed executive remarked.
New Systems Installed
As Orion’s prime contractor for NASA, Lockheed manufactured the spacecraft’s crew module and its adaptor, as well as the launch abort system. New Orion systems were installed for crew safety and health, including life support systems and an exercise machine. The company also outfitted the vehicle with an experimental, high-data rate laser communication for potential use in future missions.
The NASA Exploration Ground Systems, or EGS, team, which received Orion, will conduct the final preparations for the spacecraft at the processing facilities of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The EGS team’s tasks include the installation of the launch abort system and loading consumables, such as water, oxygen and propellants.
When the team’s work is done, the spacecraft will be moved to the space center’s vehicle assembly building and subsequently raised onto the Space Launch System rocket for the final preparations for the launch of the Artemis II mission.
Other Artemis Missions
In November 2022, an uncrewed Orion capsule took off from the NASA launch system for the Artemis I mission. Lockheed Martin is under a NASA contract for Orion spacecraft development up to the Artemis VIII mission.
The company is currently working on the Artemis III and IV vehicles. In July 2021, Lockheed opened its $20 million Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource Center in Florida to speed up spacecraft production for the Artemis missions.
