Orion European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis

An integral part of NASA’s Artemis mission

More than 50 years after the first crewed Moon landing in 1969, the US Space Agency NASA is setting out once again to visit Earth´s satellite - not just for a few days only, but to establish the foundations for a permanently crewed human outpost in the long term. Under its Artemis programme, with its first launch in 2022, NASA is planning to return to the Moon with a landing on its surface by 2028.

Europe and Airbus are playing a major role in this ambitious project, for the first time ever, NASA has entrusted a non-US company to build a mission-critical element for a US Human Spaceflight Mission.

Under a European Space Agency (ESA) contract, Airbus is responsible for building the European Service Module (ESM), which both propels and manoeuvres the Orion spacecraft and provides the crew with air and water, as well as keeps the module at a comfortable temperature.

The Orion spacecraft consist of two main parts: the Crew Module, which is the habitat for up to four astronauts and their cargo, and the Service Module - built at the Airbus facility in Bremen. The two modules are attached and connected via the Crew Module Adapter.

Together, they form the Orion spacecraft

11 April 2022

Powering the return to the Moon

Key functions of the European Service Module

The ESM is a versatile and powerful component with several key responsibilities:

· Propulsion: The Orion spacecraft relies on the 33 engines onboard the ESM to provide thrust and propulsion to manoeuvre Orion to its destination.

· Power: Four 7-meter solar wings generate 11.2 kW of electricity - enough to power two households. This provides the electricity required to run the spacecraft's systems and sustain the crew throughout the mission.

· Life support: The module supplies the crew with vital consumables such as water and oxygen.

· Crew comfort: The ESM maintains a standard temperature within the crew capsule despite the extreme environment in space.

Facts & figures

13+ tonnes at launch

The Orion ESM is cylindrical in shape and approximately 4 metres in diameter and height. At launch, it weighs just over 13 tonnes, making up roughly 3/5 of the Orion spacecraft’s total mass.

12 km of cables

More than 20,000 parts and components are used in each ESM, from electrical equipment to engines, solar panels, fuel tanks and life support supplies, to approximately 12 kilometres of cables.

Kevlar skin

The ESM is covered with Kevlar to avoid damage by micrometeorites and space debris impact. In addition, key redundant systems such as the avionics are positioned on opposite sides of the module.

Facts & Figures

33 thrusters

The ESM will also be responsible for orbital manoeuvring and position control. Its 8.6 tonnes of fuel power the main engine, 8 auxiliary thrusters and 24 smaller thrusters used for attitude control.

A 19 m ‘wingspan’

The ESM relies on a four-wing solar array, each wing consisting of 3 separate panels that unfold to their 7 metre length after launch, hence giving the spacecraft a ‘wingspan’ of 19 metres across.

15,000 solar cells

15,000 solar cells generate enough energy to power two households. Each of the four arrays turns on two axes in order to be able to align with the sun for maximum power generation.

Going back to the Moon couldn’t happen without us

ESA contracted Airbus to build 6 European Service Modules.

Over 150 engineers from 10 countries have crafted the ESM together with ESA and industry partners, starting from Airbus’ experience gained on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which flew 5 times to the ISS.

Building the ESM modules in quick succession means adjusting the cleanroom facilities at the Bremen site with the ambition to deliver one ESM per year.

Fri, 11/29/2024 - 10:17

Orion © NASA

Successful uncrewed Artemis I mission with ESM-1

Launched on 16 November 2022, the Orion spacecraft with the first ESM module spent 25 days, 10 hours, 53 minutes in flight. It travelled over 70,000 km beyond the Moon, before the Crew Module splashed back down in the Pacific Ocean on 11 December 2022. This uncrewed test mission was a tremendous success with all mission objectives fully achieved and invaluable data gathered for future missions.

Discover more about Artemis Discover more about the succesful launch of Artemis

Artemis II, a crucial crewed test fight before Moon landing

The Artemis II Mission will fly 4 astronauts, NASA astronaut commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, around the Moon and back to Earth. The crew will fly Orion to 8,889 km beyond the Moon before completing a lunar flyby and returning to Earth. The mission is used to demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions.

Discover a key component of the Orion spacecraft

Subsequent crewed Artemis missions

ESM-3 shipped to Cape Canaveral for Moon landing

Orion's ESM-3 was delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in September 2024, to be integrated and tested with the Crew Module. This third mission will mark the first human return to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The ESM-3 will play a critical role in supporting four astronauts during their 30-day mission: from the moment they leave Earth’s orbit, through their journey into lunar orbit, their docking with the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) in lunar orbit, and their safe return to Earth.

Discover Orion´s European Ser…

Building of ESM-4 to ESM-6 at Airbus Bremen cleanroom

Following its successful completion at Airbus Bremen, the fourth European Service Module (ESM-4) has been delivered to NASA to begin preparations for Artemis IV. ESM-4 will be a vital part of the Artemis IV mission which envisages astronauts going to live and work in humanity’s first lunar space station, Gateway, which will enable new opportunities for science and preparation for human missions to Mars.

Back to the Moon to stay and venture onward

The first Artemis Missions will pave the way for humans to continuously live on the Moon. On their missions, the Artemis astronauts will investigate its surface and learn how to live and work there.

While the Moon is conveniently close to Earth, it also provides the resources needed for reaching destinations beyond - making it an ideal point of origin to prepare for the next ‘giant leap’: human exploration of Mars.

The creation of a continuous human presence on the Moon will be crucial to building up operational experience in reliably supporting life away from Earth. It will build the confidence needed for conducting long-term missions, before multi-year human missions to Mars can be envisaged in the future.

21 July 2022

Going back to the Moon couldn’t happen without us

50 years after their last visit, humans will soon land on the Moon again. Why the historic mission would not be possible without Airbus - hand in hand with the European Space Agency - and how it could enrich our lives on Earth - Guillaume Faury, Mike Schoellhorn and Jean-Marc Nasr exclusively provide all the details.