Orion (spacecraft)

Orion, full name: Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV, is a spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin for NASA.

Orion

An artist's picture of the Orion spacecraft
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin Airbus
Country of origin	United States of America
Operator	NASA
Applications	Beyond LEO exploration[1]
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Space capsule
Design life	21 days, 2 hours and 24 minutes[2]
Launch mass	Capsule: 10,387 kilograms (22,899 pounds) Service module: 15,461 kilograms (34,086 pounds) Total: 25,848 kilograms (56,985 pounds)
Crew capacity	2–6[3]
Dimensions	3.3 by 5 metres (11 by 16 feet)
Volume	Pressurized: 19.56 kilometres (12.15 miles)[4] Habitable: 8.95 m3 (316 cu ft)
Production
Launched	2
First launch	December 5, 2014
Related spacecraft
Derived from	Crew Exploration Vehicle ATV

Drawing of the Orion spacecraft. The capsule in the picture, is an early design version of Orion.

One of those flew into space (and back to Earth), as late as 2022's fourth quarter. That mission lasted 25 days. There were no astronauts on the flight.

A spaceflight with astronauts is planned for, no earlier than April 2026.

Each Orion spacecraft will be able to carry up to six^[3] astronauts. The Orion vehicle will be launched on the Space Launch System.^[5] The first launch (Exploration Flight Test-1) was on the Delta IV Heavy.^[6]

Orion is meant to take humans to the Moon and Mars.

History

An artist mockup of the Space Launch System

Orion was first made for the Constellation program in 2004, as the Orion CEV (Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle). It was meant to be launched on the Ares I rocket. Then it would be able to go to the International Space Station. It was also planned to go to a spacecraft launched in pieces on different Ares V rockets, and the spacecraft with the Orion would go to the Moon, Mars, or another place.

In October, 2010, Constellation was cancelled. They created a new program and a new rocket called the Space Launch System, and changed the name of Orion to the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.^[7]

Related pages

The only launch of the Ares I, Ares I-X. This did not have an Orion spacecraft and did not go to orbit

• NASA
• Space Launch System