NASA Takes Delivery of Lockheed Martin’s Orion Spacecraft for the Artemis II Mission

Assembly and testing are complete, and Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft has been transferred to NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) team at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion is scheduled to carry four NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronauts around the moon and back on a 10-day mission no later than April 2026. This will be the first crewed flight beyond Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

As the EGS team prepares for launch, Orion will be moved to processing facilities where propellants and other consumables will be loaded. The launch abort system, featuring lightweight composite materials protecting the capsule from the heat, wind, and acoustics of the launch, and protective fairings will be added. Orion’s heat shield is made of blocks of Avcoat which is applied to the shield’s titanium skeleton and carbon fiber skin, protecting the spacecraft and the crew as they reenter the Earth’s atmosphere where temperatures can reach nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

When all the preparatory steps are complete, Orion will be stacked on the Space Launch System rocket and final steps will be taken to prepare for a safe launch and ride for the astronauts.

“Today was a big step by Lockheed Martin - really, I think, for the Artemis enterprise - in going back and putting some more footprints on the moon,” said Kirk Shireman, vice president of human space exploration and Orion program manager at Lockheed Martin. With Orion for Artemis II complete, the Lockheed Martin team will now focus on Orion spacecraft for future Artemis missions through Artemis VIII. The next generation of space travel is in Lockheed Martin’s sights, including a partnership with NASA to send crewed missions to Mars.