The European Service Module, which will power the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis 3 mission to the Moon, will depart soon for the United States.
ESA will hand over the third European Service Module to NASA as part of a key contribution to humanity's return to the Moon.
The service module left the Airbus Space integration hall in Bremen, Germany, and is now scheduled to travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the United States.
Built in Italy, assembled in Germany, with collaboration from across Europe, the module will make the 12-day transatlantic journey aboard the Canopé, the same ship that transported Ariane 6 to the European spaceport of French Guiana ahead of its maiden flight.
ESA's European Service Module
The European Service Module will propel NASA's Orion spacecraft during the Artemis missions and provide astronauts with vital resources such as electricity, water, climate control and air.
ESA has already delivered two European Service Modules to NASA: the first was used on the successful Artemis I unmanned mission, and the second is currently being tested at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the Artemis II mission planned for next year.
The third European service module is currently on its way to join the second service module for its own mission.
The journey so far
The third, European Service Module, began its journey at Thales Alenia Space's manufacturing plant in Turin, Italy, where engineers assembled a chassis-like structure.
This backbone supports all of the module's components, including 11km of cabling, 33 engines, four tanks of 2,000 litres of propellant each, tanks with enough water and air for the crew's use during the mission, and four seven-metre solar arrays that will provide enough power to power two homes.
Starting in October 2020, the modules and their components have been arriving at Airbus Space in Bremen, Germany for assembly. The components are provided by more than 20 companies from over 10 European countries, testimony to the collaborative effort behind this project.
Earlier this year, teams installed the third European Service Module main engine, which has already completed nine missions and powered the space shuttles Challenger, Columbia and Endeavour.
The module is due to leave Europe shortly and head to the United States.
Next steps
When the European Service Module arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, engineers will connect it to the Crew Module Adapter, and then to the Crew Module itself. A host of tests will take place before, during and after that to get the spacecraft ready for its Artemis III mission.
