Human and Robotic Exploration

30 September 2026 marks the start of a new year on Mars. At exactly 10:16 CEST/08:16 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet begins a new orbit around our Sun.

The European service module that will provide power, water, air and electricity to NASA’s Orion Moon module has taken a large step closer to completion with the installation of its fuel tanks and testing of its solar wings.Orion will eventually fly beyond the Moon with astronauts. The first mission – without astronauts – is getting ready for launch in 2019.

The structure for Europe’s second service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft arrived at the Airbus clean room in Bremen, Germany, last week.

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.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot during EVA-97

The Orion spacecraft for Artemis III inside the cleanroom at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

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Building the International Space Station

Logos for all crewed European spacefiights

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