On July 14, 2023, American defense contractor Lockheed Martin revealed images of three Orion spacecraft intended for the Artemis II, III, and IV lunar missions.
“The future of the Orion spacecraft looks very promising. The crew modules for Artemis II, Artemis III, and Artemis IV are undergoing various stages of production at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in preparation for sending astronauts back to the Moon,” Lockheed Martin stated in a Twitter post on July 14, accompanied by images of the three Orion spacecraft. This trio is being manufactured under the management of Lockheed Martin.
Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II, III, and IV lunar missions (left to right) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo: NASA/Marie Reed)
During the Artemis II mission, the Orion spacecraft is expected to launch in November 2024 with a crew of four, including astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA), and astronaut Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency). Meanwhile, details about the crew for the Artemis III and IV missions have not yet been disclosed. According to the plan, Artemis III is scheduled to launch in 2025 or 2026, depending on the readiness of the Starship launch system developed by SpaceX. Artemis IV will follow later, toward the end of this decade.
Lockheed Martin has signed contracts to supply Orion spacecraft for several future Artemis lunar missions. The order for spacecraft in the Artemis III – V missions is valued at $2.7 billion, while missions Artemis VI – VIII are valued at $1.9 billion. Lockheed Martin stated that manufacturing the spacecraft in batches allows the company to save costs due to production efficiency.
The recent images do not include the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I, which conducted an uncrewed flight to lunar orbit last year. The photos also do not feature the first Orion spacecraft produced, which flew around Earth in 2014 during a test flight.
NASA has signed the Artemis Agreement with 26 countries to establish rules for peaceful exploration of the Moon. The European Space Agency and Canada are both committed to providing hardware for Artemis and the Gateway, a space station planned to orbit the Moon and expected to launch this decade.
