Engineers and technicians keep a close eye on the third European Service Module (ESM-3) leaving the integration hall at Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, Germany. It is a bittersweet moment for the teams that have been working on it for years – it is the last time they will see the module in Europe before it flies to the Moon.
This powerhouse, boasting 33 engines, will propel humans to the Moon during NASA’s Artemis III mission. The crew will travel on the Orion spacecraft, pictured on the wall to the right of the image with all its components assembled. ESM-3 is designed to provide propulsion, electrical power and life support for astronauts.
The European module is a marvel of engineering, comprising over 22 000 parts and weighing around 13 tonnes. ESM-3 was built with contributions from over 20 companies across more than 10 European countries.
The third in the series embarked on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Canopée transport ship. Its destination is NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, where the teams will connect it with the Orion crew module, install its seven-metre-long solar arrays, and run final tests in preparation for launch.
Unlike the Apollo missions, which used fuel cells to generate electricity, Orion uses solar arrays. The four solar array wings can provide enough electricity to power two households with four tenants on Earth. The main engine is a repurposed orbital manoeuvring system engine (OMS-E) with nine Space Shuttle missions under its belt. This legendary, powerful machine provides enough thrust to escape Earth’s gravitational field and perform the translunar injection burn to get into the Moon’s orbit.
For the latest updates, follow the journey on ESA’s Orion blog and X.