Orion (spacecraft)

Orion

Photo of Orion taken during the flight of Artemis 1
Manufacturer	CM: Lockheed Martin ESM: Airbus Defence and Space
Operator	NASA[1]
Applications	Crewed exploration beyond LEO[2]
Project cost	US$21.5 billion nominal ($26.3 billion inflation adjusted to 2022)
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Crewed
Launch mass	CM: 22,900 lb (10,400 kg) ESM: 34,085 lb (15,461 kg) Combined mass: 58,467 lb (26,520 kg) Total with LAS: 73,735 lb (33,446 kg)
Dry mass	CM: 20,500 lb (9,300 kg) landing weight ESM: 13,635 lb (6,185 kg)
Payload capacity	220 lb (100 kg) return payload
Crew capacity	4[1]
Volume	Pressurized: 690.6 cu ft (20 m3)[4] Habitable: 316 cu ft (9 m3)
Power	Solar
Regime	Lunar Transfer Orbit, lunar orbit
Design life	21.1 days[3]
Dimensions
Length	10 feet 10 inches (3.30 m)
Diameter	16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m)
Production
Status	In service
On order	6–12 (+3 ordered before 2019) [5]
Built	4
Launched	2
Maiden launch	December 5, 2014
Related spacecraft
Derived from	Crew Exploration Vehicle ATV

Orion (Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Capable of supporting a crew of four beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar panels, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. A single AJ10 engine provides the spacecraft's primary propulsion, while eight R-4D-11 engines, and six pods of custom reaction control system engines developed by Airbus, provide the spacecraft's secondary propulsion. Orion is intended to launch atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system.

Orion was conceived in the early 2000s by Lockheed Martin as a proposal for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to be used in NASA's Constellation program and was selected by NASA in 2006. Following the cancellation of the Constellation program in 2010, Orion was heavily redesigned for use in NASA's Journey to Mars initiative; later named Moon to Mars. The SLS became Orion's primary launch vehicle, and the service module was replaced with a design based on the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle. A development version of Orion's CM was launched in 2014 during Exploration Flight Test-1, while at least four test articles were produced. Orion was primarily designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado, with former Space Shuttle engineer Julie Kramer White at NASA as Orion's chief engineer.^[6]

As of 2022^[update], three flight-worthy Orion spacecraft are under construction, with one completed and an additional one ordered,^[a] for use in NASA's Artemis program.

The first completed unit, CM-002, was launched on November 16, 2022 on Artemis 1.^[9][10][11]

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