The International Orion Spacecraft Is off Towards the Stars
Following a very successful year of manufacturing, assembly and testing in factories located around the globe, NASA and ESA are preparing to deliver the major Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) Orion flight elements, including the Crew Module, ESA Service Module and Launch Abort System. This international effort to design and develop a deep space exploration capable human spacecraft is rapidly transitioning from the design, development and test phase to the early test flight and production phase. Two major flight tests, an Ascent Abort test and EM-1, Orion's first flight onboard NASA's new heavy lift Space Launch System, are planned for the near future. Further, Orion will play a crucial role in the ambitious new Deep Space Gateway human exploration Program. This paper gives a short overview of the system and subsystem configuration of the Orion spacecraft, including NASA and ESA contributions, a status of EM-1, AA-2 and EM-2 spacecraft production, and a look at Orion's role in the construction and operation of the Deep Space Gateway. The paper will also address the innovative international cooperation methods being employed to conduct Orion and Service Module integration.