Lockheed Martin has sent the Orion capsule to NASA’s exploration ground systems team for final preparations ahead of the unmanned Artemis I mission to lunar orbit that will launch later this year. The spacecraft concluded assembly operations and testing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Read More »Lockheed Integrates Orion Crew Module for NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission
Lockheed Martin finished constructing the Orion spacecraft’s crew capsule ahead of NASA’s planned Artemis 1 uncrewed mission to the moon, Vice President Mike Pence announced during his visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Read More »Lockheed’s Orion Launch Abort System With Northrop-Built Booster Completes Second Flight Test
Lockheed Martin and NASA demonstrated the capability of the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system through the Ascent Abort-2 test conducted Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Read More »Lockheed Partners With NanoRacks to Seek Commercial Payload Concepts for Orion Capsule
Lockheed Martin has teamed up with NanoRacks to seek concepts of commercial payloads that could fly on upcoming missions of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. Lockheed said Friday the market assessment marks the initial step toward its vision to deliver commercial opportunities to deep space. Mike Hawes, Orion program manager and vice …
Read More »Report: First Orion Service Module Scheduled for Delivery to US in Late October
Representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency and industry have announced that the first service module for the Orion spacecraft will be delivered to the U.S. in late October, Space News reported Wednesday. Mike Hawes, vice president and Orion program manager at Lockheed Martin, said during the 69th International Astronautical …
Read More »Lockheed’s Orion EM-2 Capsule Enters Final Assembly Phase
Lockheed Martin has built and shipped a capsule structure for the Orion Exploration Mission-2 spacecraft to NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final assembly. The company said Tuesday Orion’s pressure vessel is made-up of machined aluminum alloy parts designed to help protect the crew module from harsh conditions in deep space. …
Read More »Mike Hawes: Lockheed Eyes Cost Reduction on Orion Spacecraft Through Reuse
Lockheed Martin plans to reduce the production cost of the Orion crew capsule for future missions through reuse of the vehicle structure and other components of the spacecraft, SpaceNews reported Friday. “We have the internal component reuse that will start even between [Exploration Mission] 1 and 2, but then when …
Read More »Lockheed Starts Orion Crew Capsule Construction for Exploration Mission-2
Lockheed Martin has begun construction work at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, on a spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to the moon as part of Exploration Mission-2. The Orion crew capsule will launch aboard the Space Launch System rocket as part of EM-2 mission that is expected …
Read More »NASA, Lockheed Activate Orion Crew Module for Initial Power-On Test; Mike Hawes Comments
NASA and Lockheed Martin have powered up the company-built Orion crew module at the space agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time. Engineers installed and tested vehicle management computers, power and data units and flight software on the spacecraft as part of the initial power-up event, Lockheed said Tuesday. “Orion was …
Read More »Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests Auxiliary Engines for Lockheed-Built Orion Spacecraft; Eileen Drake, Mike Hawes Comment
Aerojet Rocketdyne has conducted hot-fire acceptance tests on eight auxiliary engines to be used on the inaugural flight of NASA‘s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System next year. The company said Wednesday it oversees the development of auxiliary engines for the European Space Agency’s European Service Module that will provide air and water, temperature control, …
Read More »NASA, Lockheed Begin Assembly of Orion Crew Module for Lunar Mission
A team of NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers has fused two sections of an Orion crew module that the agency intends to send into a lunar distant retrograde orbit with the Boeing-built Space Launch System. The spacecraft’s tunnel and forward bulkhead were welded together on Saturday at NASA’s Michoud Assembly …
Read More »Lockheed Tests Orion Fairing Separation System Changes; Mike Hawes Comments
Lockheed Martin has evaluated the changes in the Orion spacecraft’s fairing separation system design. Engineers performed the tests on Orion’s new push-off springs, crew module structural attachments, star trackers and pyrotechnic variances, and higher load cases in preparation for the first exploration mission, Lockheed said Thursday. “The fairing separation is …
Read More »Lockheed Begins Post-Flight Orion Systems Analysis; Mike Hawes Comments
Lockheed Martin engineers have started to analyze data recorders and heat shield samples from the Orion capsule following its unmanned test flight and at-sea recovery on Monday. NASA and the U.S. Navy collaborated to retrieve Orion’s crew module from its landing site in the Pacific Ocean and bring the platform …
Read More »NASA, Lockheed Prep ‘Orion’ Spacecraft for Rollout to Launchpad
Preparations for the Lockheed Martin-built Orion spacecraft’s December maiden flight from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will begin with its rollout from NASA’s Launch Abort System Facility on Nov. 10. The facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida currently houses the aircraft designed for manned exploration of deep space. NASA …
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