European Service Module for NASA's Artemis III Orion Spacecraft: Update

European Service Module for NASA's Artemis III Orion Spacecraft: Update

This photo shows NASA and its partners at work on the solar array wings for the agency’s Artemis III Orion spacecraft on Thursday, April 30, 2026, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion’s solar arrays, manufactured and installed by European Space Agency (ESA) and its contractor Airbus, have been temporarily installed ahead of acoustic testing on the spacecraft. The Artemis III mission will launch astronauts in 2027 to Earth’s orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land Artemis IV astronauts on the Moon in 2028. 

The service module is the powerhouse of the spacecraft as it provides in-space maneuvering capability, power, and other commodities necessary for life support, including consumables for the astronauts, like water, oxygen and nitrogen.

Artemis III will launch astronauts into Earth orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft on top of SLS in 2027 to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and other commercial spacecraft that are needed to land Artemis IV astronauts on the Moon in 2028.

Artemis III Misson:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Date: April 30, 2026

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