Overview
Orion (officially the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, MPCV) is NASA's crew capsule designed for deep-space exploration. It is the only currently operational spacecraft designed to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit — to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. Orion launches atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and completed its first uncrewed test flight around the Moon on Artemis I in November 2022.
Key Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin (crew module), Airbus Defence & Space (ESM) |
| Crew | Up to 4 astronauts |
| Crew Module Diameter | 5.02 m (16.5 ft) |
| Habitable Volume | 8.95 m³ |
| Total Mass | ~26,500 kg (crew module + service module) |
| Mission Duration | 21 days solo, 6+ months with docked habitat |
| Launch Vehicle | SLS |
| Heat Shield | Avcoat ablator (5 m diameter — largest ever flown) |
| Launch Abort | Launch Abort System (LAS) tower with 3 solid motors |
| Re-entry Speed | Up to 40,000 km/h (11 km/s) from lunar return |
European Service Module (ESM)
Orion's service module is built by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of ESA — Europe's contribution to the Artemis programme. The ESM provides propulsion (1 × AJ10 main engine + 8 auxiliary thrusters), power (4 solar arrays generating 11.1 kW), thermal control, water and air for the crew. It is derived from the design of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) that resupplied the ISS.
Artemis I
On 16 November 2022, Orion launched uncrewed atop SLS on the Artemis I mission. It entered a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, reaching 432,210 km from Earth — the farthest distance any human-rated spacecraft has ever travelled. The mission lasted 25.5 days and ended with a precision splashdown in the Pacific. The heat shield withstood re-entry at 40,000 km/h — the fastest re-entry speed ever experienced by a human-rated vehicle.
Upcoming Missions
Artemis II: The first crewed Orion mission — four astronauts will fly a lunar flyby trajectory (no landing). This will be the first crewed flight beyond LEO since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis III and beyond: Orion will carry crew to lunar orbit where they transfer to SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System for the actual lunar surface landing. Later missions will dock at the Gateway lunar space station.
Orion vs Dragon
Orion and Crew Dragon serve fundamentally different roles. Dragon operates in LEO (ISS crew transport), while Orion is designed for deep-space missions — the Moon and eventually Mars. Orion is larger (5 m vs 4 m diameter), carries a more capable heat shield (for 11 km/s lunar return), and has its own propulsion system. Dragon is partially reusable; Orion's crew module is also intended for reuse, though at a much lower flight rate.