As of 2020, three flight-worthy Orion spacecraft are under construction, with an additional one ordered, for use in NASA's Artemis program the first of these is due to be launched in 2021 on Artemis 1. A development version of Orion's CM was launched in 2014 during Exploration Flight Test-1, while at least four test articles have been produced. The SLS replaced the Ares I as Orion's primary launch vehicle, and the service module was replaced with a design based on the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle. Following the cancellation of the Constellation program in 2010, Orion was heavily redesigned for use in NASA's Journey to Mars initiative later named Moon to Mars.
Originally designed with a service module featuring a new "Orion Main Engine" and a pair of circular solar panels, the spacecraft was to be launched atop the Ares I rocket. Lockheed Martin's proposal defeated a competing proposal by Northrop Grumman and was selected by NASA in 2006 to be the CEV. Orion was originally conceived in the early 2000s by Lockheed Martin as a proposal for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to be used in NASA's Constellation program. Although compatible with other launch vehicles, Orion is primarily intended to launch atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system. A single AJ10 engine provides the spacecraft's primary propulsion, while eight R-4D-11 engines, and six pods of custom reaction control system engines developed by Airbus, provide the spacecraft's secondary propulsion.
It is equipped with solar panels, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Capable of supporting a crew of six beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last up to 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a class of partially reusable crewed spacecraft to be used in NASA's Artemis program.
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