Orion Service Module – Spaceflight Now

NASA taps Lockheed Martin to build six more Orion crew capsules

September 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Monday it will order at least six reusable Orion crew capsules from Lockheed Martin for $4.6 billion to fly astronauts to the vicinity of the moon in the 2020s, and the agency said it plans to purchase hardware for up to 12 Orion vehicles by 2030.

First moon-bound Orion crew capsule declared complete, major tests remain

July 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

Teams working at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week connected a U.S.-built Orion crew module with its European-made power and propulsion element for the first time, a significant accomplishment ahead of the spacecraft’s shipment to Ohio this fall for testing inside the world’s largest vacuum chamber.

Final assembly and test milestones on tap for NASA’s first Orion moon ship

July 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

The pressurized crew module and European-built service module for NASA’s first Orion spacecraft to travel to the moon will be joined together for the first time in the coming weeks at the Kennedy Space Center, with preparations — at least for Orion — on a pace to be ready for launch on an unpiloted test flight next year.

NASA confirms first flight of Space Launch System will slip to 2019

April 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s top human spaceflight official says the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, a behemoth booster designed to loft astronauts on expeditions into deep space, will be delayed from November 2018 until some time in 2019, according to a report published by a U.S. government watchdog Thursday.

Shuttle engine delivered to Orion service module assembly site

January 2, 2017 Stephen Clark

A former space shuttle orbital maneuvering system engine has been delivered to Germany for attachment to the European-built service module destined to steer NASA’s next Orion spacecraft on a course around the moon on an uncrewed test flight in late 2018.

Orion capsule put under pressure in Florida

May 15, 2016 Stephen Clark

The skeleton of NASA’s next Orion capsule, set for launch in late 2018 on a test flight to lunar orbit without astronauts, has passed a pressurization test at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

ESA member states commit funding for Orion service module

December 3, 2014 Stephen Clark

As a barebones Orion spacecraft awaits its first launch from Cape Canaveral, representatives of European governments agreed to fund the development of a power and propulsion element to take the crew capsule on voyages around the moon, to an asteroid, and eventually to Mars.