The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, the Orion vehicle that will be used for Artemis II is getting ready for this first mission to bring humans around the Moon and back in over 50 years.
The vehicle consists of several parts: the conical crew module on top, where the four astronauts will live during the mission; the crew module adapter directly beneath it, connecting the crew module above and service module below; the cylindrical European Service Module, the powerhouse of Orion providing the crew vehicle with electricity, propulsion, thermal control, air and water; and the conical spacecraft adaptor, which connects Orion to the Space Launch System mega Moon rocket.
The Artemis II vehicle stack was moved into a vacuum chamber at the Kennedy Space Center, where it will undergo several tests to ensure it can withstand the harsh conditions of space. The electromagnetic compatibility and interference tests as well as high-altitude vacuum tests will take place in one of two historical chambers also used to test spacecraft during the Apollo era.