Airbus ships Orion’s third ESM-3 module to Cape Canaveral on behalf of ESA
Airbus has shipped the third European Service Module, built by the French manufacturer under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA), to NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Here, it will be assembled to form part of NASA’s third Artemis programme.
Manufactured at Airbus’ facilities in Bremen, Germany, the ESM-3 module will play a critical role in supporting four astronauts during their three-week lunar mission, marking the first human return to the moon’s surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. Alongside employing thermal energy control systems will keep the crew module between 18 and 24 decrees C, the ESM will also mimic a standard Earth atmosphere.
To achieve this, “the ESM carries 90 kilogrammes of oxygen and 30 kilogrammes of nitrogen,” explained Ralf Zimmermann, head of space exploration at Airbus. “We also use the nitrogen to pump drinking water from the 240 litre tank for the astronauts”. Unlike the Apollo missions, which used fuel cells to generate electricity, Orion exclusively uses solar arrays; with the ESM drawing around 10% of the power (leaving the remainder to be diverted to the batteries and equipment in the crew module).
“Today’s delivery of the third ESM marks the beginning of yearly ESM activities, underlining the importance and reliability of Europe in this transatlantic partnership,” concluded Zimmermann. Airbus Defence and Space is under contract up to ESM-6 and long lead items procurement up to ESM-9.
