Summary
- Components for Artemis missions have reached Kennedy Space Center following journeys by sea.
- Orion’s service module – ESM-3 – contains essential systems for the Orion spacecraft.
- Artemis 2 penciled in for 2025 launch, while Artemis 3 will launch no later than September 2026.
Parts for the upcoming Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of their respective missions in 2025 and 2026. One ship carrying Orion’s service module has arrived from Europe, while another transported Artemis 2’s launch vehicle stage adapter from Alabama, along with components for Artemis 3 and 4.
Artemis components en route to Florida
NASA’s Artemis program is set to receive key components for its SLS (Space Launch System) heavy-lift rocket and Orion spacecraft this month ahead of two key missions in the next couple of years. NASA’s Pegasus barge will carry the launch vehicle stage adapter for SLS, which connects the rocket’s core stage to the upper stage whilst also protecting the upper stage’s engine during flight.
Photo: NASA
This large, cone-shaped construct left NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama on August 21st, and will first stop off at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to pick up additional SLS components before continuing onward to Florida. The SLS’ core stage was recently delivered to Kennedy Space Center.
Photo: NASA
Another ship, Canopée, is transporting Orion’s service module courtesy of the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESM-3 (European Service Module 3) was initially constructed at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, before assembly in Bremen, Germany.
Service modules are attached to the rear of the crew module and contain essential systems like life support, power and propulsion. According to ESA, the ESM-3 features:
- 11km of wiring
- 33 engines
- Four tanks of propellant
- Solar arrays that generate enough energy to power two households
Photo: ESA
As the name suggests, ESM-3 is ESA’s third service module for Orion. Europe’s space agency previously supplied the first service module for the Artemis 1 mission in 2022, as well as a test module for the current Artemis 2 mission. Once it arrives in Florida, ESM-3 will be integrated with Orion’s Crew Module Adapter and Crew Module before undergoing testing ahead of its launch.
Lunar landing scheduled for late 2026
The Artemis 2 mission, a crewed test flight orbiting the moon, is scheduled for no earlier than September 2025 and will feature three NASA astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – and the first spaceflight of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The lunar flyby will last around three weeks in Orion’s first crewed mission.
Photo: NASA
Artemis 3 will be the first human lunar landing mission in over half a century and is penciled in for launch no earlier than September 2026, although reports have suggested 2027 to be more likely. The mission will involve four NASA astronauts launching into lunar orbit, before two astronauts catch a SpaceX Starship HLS (Human Landing System) down to the moon’s south pole.