Fly me to the Moon! NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the Airbus-built European Service Module is ready for launch

In a few days, NASA’s Orion spacecraft will lift off on its lunar mission from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. As part of NASA’s Artemis missions, the European Service Module (ESM), constructed by Airbus, will power Orion to and from its lunar orbit. As the primary contractor for the European Space Agency ESA, Airbus developed the ESM and is currently designing and producing five further ESMs.

Courtesy: Airbus

The ESM is a key element of Orion, the next-generation spacecraft that will carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo programme ended in the 1970s. The module provides propulsion, power and thermal regulation and will supply astronauts with water and oxygen on future missions. The ESM is installed below the crew module.

The launch of NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module has historic significance 50 years after the last astronaut lunar mission and is another major step toward returning astronauts to the Moon. The programme is now moving forward and we are ready for a return to the lunar surface in 2025 together with our customers ESA and NASA and our industrial partner Lockheed Martin Space,” said Jean-Marc Nasr, head of Space Systems at Airbus.

Courtesy: Airbus

The ESM is a cylinder about four metres high and wide. It is similar to the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV 2008 – 2015), also built by Airbus, and features the signature four-bladed solar array (19 metres in diameter when deployed), which generates enough power for two households. The service module’s 8.6 tons of propellant power the main engine, eight auxiliary engines and 24 smaller thrusters ensure navigation and attitude control.

At launch, the ESM weighs a total of just over 13 tons. In addition to serving as the main propulsion system for the Orion spacecraft, the ESM will enable orbital maneuvering and attitude control. It will provide the crew with key life support elements such as water and oxygen and regulate thermal control while docked to the crew module. Also the unpressurized service module can be used to carry additional payloads.

For the first landing on the Moon, the Orion spacecraft will dock with the international Lunar Gateway – a lunar-orbiting platform that will enable sustained space exploration and expand humanity’s presence in space.