(Photo Caption: One of the hypergolic propellant tanks for the second Orion European Service Module (ESM) is seen in October 2020 during integration activities in Bremen, Germany.

“Where we are is we’re trading back and forth between when the Service Module shows up and is ready to integrate with the Crew Module and some of the avionics that we need to put in the Crew Module, but the tricky part is that we constantly re-evaluate our schedule and there’s ways that we can kind of change the order and sequence of when things are installed in the vehicle.” “It’s tricky when you talk about a specific period of time between Artemis 1 and Artemis 2,” Tom Whitmeyer, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development (ESD), said in a May 13 interview. But the time between flights is still uncertain. and in Europe, with some elements already in storage waiting to be called up when needed. Meanwhile, assembly and testing of the Artemis 2 flight hardware continues around the U.S.

The final stacking sequence is expected to pick up in early-June with the mating of the SLS Core Stage to its twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), but the Artemis 1 launch readiness date itself also depends on how smoothly the first-time integrated testing and checkout proceeds recent estimates place readiness for launch anywhere between November 2021 and March 2022. The timing for both is uncertain, and the Artemis 2 schedule depends on when Artemis 1 launches because some Orion flight hardware is planned to be used for both missions.Īll the flight hardware for Artemis 1 is staged in different locations around the Kennedy Space Center launch site, where Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) is handling launch processing. Monitoring Orion hardware delivery progress and Artemis 1 scheduleĬurrently, Artemis 2 is forecast to fly in the second half of 2023 after the long-awaited Artemis 1 uncrewed test flight. The global COVID pandemic is also still having an effect on production activities, which could also affect when Artemis 2 is ready to launch. and Europe independently of Artemis 1 for now, but some Orion hardware from Artemis 1 is still expected to be needed for reuse. The second joint test flight of NASA’s Orion and Space Launch System (SLS) vehicles will be the first to fly a four-person crew after Artemis 1 goes on an uncrewed lunar orbit mission.Īssembly, integration, and testing of the Artemis 2 Orion and SLS flight hardware continues in the U.S. NASA is currently forecasting that Artemis 2 will be ready to launch no earlier than (NET) September 2023, but similar to attempting to forecast when Artemis 1 will be ready to launch, there is also uncertainty in when Artemis 2 might fly.

Orion sound module