NASA has officially taken ownership of the Orion spacecraft designated for the Artemis II mission, signaling a major milestone in the space agency’s preparations for its first crewed flight around the Moon under the Artemis program.
Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for Orion, completed final assembly of the spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following a successful handover to NASA’s Orion program, the vehicle was subsequently transferred to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) team for its final phase of launch preparations.
The spacecraft was relocated on May 5 from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility—where it was assembled—to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at Kennedy. There, engineers and technicians will conduct a series of critical prelaunch operations, including fueling the spacecraft and integrating key systems required for its upcoming mission.
During its time in the MPPF, the Orion spacecraft will be loaded with essential propellants, high-pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids required for its 10-day journey. Due to the hazardous nature of the fueling process, operations will be conducted remotely from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. Once fueling is complete, the Artemis II crew will perform an equipment interface test—an important systems check where astronauts will enter the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to verify that all mission-critical systems function as expected.
Following these activities, Orion will be transported to the Launch Abort System Facility, where it will be integrated with its launch abort system—a safety mechanism designed to propel the crew capsule away from the rocket in case of an emergency during launch or ascent. The integrated spacecraft will then be moved to NASA’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be stacked atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in preparation for flight.
The transition from assembly to integration marks the end of extensive development and verification efforts for the Artemis II Orion vehicle. While in the checkout facility, engineers installed and tested thousands of components, including the crew module, service module, and crew module adapter. The spacecraft also underwent rigorous vacuum and acoustic testing to ensure it can endure the harsh conditions of space travel.
Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis campaign. The mission will carry four astronauts—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, along with Canadian Space Agency Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen—on a lunar flyby before returning them safely to Earth. The flight will serve as a critical stepping stone toward future long-duration lunar surface missions and eventual human exploration of Mars.
As NASA and its partners continue progress toward launch, Artemis II remains a pivotal demonstration of the agency’s commitment to sustainable lunar exploration and advancing human spaceflight capabilities beyond Earth orbit.