First Orion Service Module Ready for Shipment to the US
First Orion Service Module Ready for Shipment to the US
BREMEN, Germany - The first service module built in Europe for NASA's Orion spacecraft is Finally ready to be sent to the United States. for the final preparations before a release planned for mid-2020.
At a press conference during the 69th International Astronautical Congress here on October 3, representatives of NASA, the European Space Agency and companies involved in the program said that the first European Service Module, the "power" of the Orion spacecraft, Must be shipped from a nearby Airbus factory later this month.
"We are planning to send on October 29," said Nico Dettmann, head of the Exploration Development Group at ESA. Some final tests of the service module could delay the shipment for up to a week, he said, "but we are very confident that we will send it on the 29th."
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The service module will be sent to the Kennedy Space Center, where it will be attached to the Orion crew module that is already there and will undergo further tests in preparation for launch in the Space Launch System. That crew module is effectively completed, said Mike Hawes, vice president and manager of the Orion program at Lockheed Martin, apart from some jobs that replaced avionics boxes. "The United States team is ready," he said.
The development of the service module suffered major delays due to technical problems that at some point required Lockheed to provide some technicians to Airbus, the main contractor of the module, to help accelerate the process.
"The first always has the character of being the first of its kind," said Oliver Juckenhöfel, vice president of in-orbit and exploration services at Airbus. He said the company is incorporating the lessons learned from the first service module for future modules, as well as design improvements and other changes to reduce its mass.
Some of those changes should reflect the fact that, unlike the unmanned Exploration Mission (MS) 1 flight for which the first service module was built, future Orion missions will be manned. "For the EM-1 mission, we had certain cases that allowed us to waive the requirements because there was no crew on board," said Dettmann. "There was a strict obligation to fix it for EM-2."
The service module has been one of the elements that has driven the overall development of EM-1, together with the central stage of the SLS. "Right now we're close to neck and neck" with the central stage of SLS in terms of what element is on the critical path to launch, said Mark Kirasich, manager of NASA's Orion program.
However, the delivery of the service module in the coming weeks would keep the mission on track for a launch in 2020. "If we receive the service module in November, we are working to reach the June 2020 release date for EM. -1 ", said Kirasich.
Airbus has already begun the construction of the second and even the third service module, said Juckenhöfel. The development of subsequent service modules involves a complex set of agreements for ESA, including contracts with Airbus and agreements with NASA, as well as support from ESA member states.
David Parker, director of human exploration and robotics at ESA, said that the ESA Council gave its approval in June to begin procurement in the third service module. "We are in the process of a commercial purchase at this time with Airbus, waiting for a proposal to arrive," he said. "The long-term items are already under contract, so it's working."
The fourth service module will be included in the package of proposals that ESA member states will consider at the next ministerial meeting in late 2019. In the long term, Parker said that ESA is considering a block purchase of several service modules beyond the room. For that moment in the development of the module, he said, the design should be stable, making the agreement feasible.
At the same time, Parker said that ESA has "ongoing discussions" with NASA about an agreement to provide those service modules. ESA provided the first two service modules in exchange for the ISS logistics services. That future agreement, he said, could be part of a broader exploration package that will also include European contributions to the lunar portal.
Such an agreement could include provisions for ESA astronauts to fly on future Orion missions. "The aspiration is obviously there to get a European astronaut" on a mission, he said.
This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to cover all aspects of the space industry.
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