Touch down: European module arrives at Kennedy Space Center
After a 24-hour journey from Bremen, Germany with stops in Hamburg and Portsmouth, USA, the European Service Module landed yesterday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
04 DEC. 2015
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Orion’s European Service Module has evolved out of ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that served the International Space Station five times between 2008 and 2015.
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First ATV, Jules Verne, approaches Space Station 2008
ATV was conceived in 1987 and in 1994, ESA and Russia discussed the possibility of using the vehicle for a new station. The decision to build it was taken in October 1995 and development began the following year.
ATV became ESA’s largest spacecraft and set records for most equipment delivered to the International Space Station. The spacecraft’s role was to supply water, air, equipment and fuel as well as push the Station to raise its orbit or avoid space debris. At the end of a mission, ATV was filled with waste to burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
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The International Space Station with ATV-2 and Endeavour
The spacecraft formed part of the Station’s supply fleet, alongside Russia’s Progress and Soyuz, Japan’s HII Transfer Vehicle and America’s Dragon and Cygnus commercial ferries.
As one of the most versatile spacecraft to visit the Space Station, the tried and proven technology behind ATV was chosen in 2013 to power NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
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ATV-4 approaches Space Station...
The two service modules resemble each other in terms of size, solar array layout, engine placement and hull, with the addition of the crew capsule and large main engine the markedly visible differences. Many elements have been improved or replaced with enhanced models.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle was Europe’s first spacecraft for human spaceflight; its evolution is now powering astronauts further than human beings have ever travelled before.
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Artist's impression of Orion
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Orion and ESM during Artemis I in 2022
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Goodbye Europe, hello Moon: European Module ships soon
The European Service Module that will power and propel the Orion spacecraft on its first mission around the Moon will ship early next week from Bremen to the United States. It will take off in an Antonov An-124 aircraft in the early hours of 5 November and arrive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US on 6 November.Designed and manufactured in Italy and Germany, the powerful workhorse is Europe’s contribution to humanity’s return to the Moon.
Orion’s first Service Module integration complete
Last week at the Airbus integration hall in Bremen, Germany, technicians installed the last radiator on the European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft marking the module’s finished integration.ESA’s European service module will provide power, water, air and electricity to NASA’s Orion exploration spacecraft that will eventually fly beyond the Moon with astronauts. The European Service Module is now complete for Orion’s first mission that will do a lunar fly-by without astronauts to demonstrate the spacecraft’s capabilities.
Skeleton structure for Orion Moon module arrives for assembly
The structure for Europe’s second service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft arrived at the Airbus clean room in Bremen, Germany, last week.
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Related links
ESA's Orion blog
Updates on our European Service Module for Orion
NASA Orion
NASA's Orion website
Orion at Airbus
Orion at Airbus
Orion service module on Flickr
Orion service module on Flickr
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