Orion Block-1A [NASA]
Project Constellation's Orion (formely CEV - Crewed Exploration Vehicle) was to be a crewed spacecraft for low earth orbit missions to ISS, missions to the moon and eventually to Mars.
CEV was be a capsule design, which inherited its shape from the Apollo capsule, but will otherwise a completly new construction. It was to launched on a Ares-1 launcher derived from Space Shuttle technology. In contrast to Apollo, landing was to be on land, assisted by air-bags or retro-rockets.
Originally, three versions were planned:
In February 2010, the development of the Ares-1 launch vehicle was cancelled and the development of Orion was reduced to a lifeboat for the ISS.
After the Constellation was cancelled, the Orion capsule was renamed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). It will serve as a vehicle for lunar and interplanetary missions. The LEO missions to ISS will instead be flown on commercial vehicles.
An uncrewed testflight of a Orion capsule called Orion-EFT 1 was launched by a Delta-4H rocket in late 2014.
In late 2012 a cooperation with ESA was initiated. Under this project a new Orion-MPCV with European service module will be developed.
Nation: | USA |
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Type / Application: | Crewed spacecraft |
Operator: | NASA |
Contractors: | Lockheed Martin |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | |
Propulsion: | OME (AJ10-190) |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 180 days |
Mass: | |
Orbit: |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orion 1 | - | 2017 | CCK LC-39B | SLS (Block 1) iCPS | → Orion-MPCV 1 | |
Orion 2 | - | 2018 | CCK LC-39B | SLS (Block 1) iCPS | → Orion-MPCV 2 |