Artemis II: How NASA Makes Spacecraft for Moon Missions

NASA’s Artemis II mission will take four astronauts the furthest into space that any humans have been.

Manufacturing of the space rocket carrying them began in 2011, adapting Space Shuttle engines for a new era of mission. 

While NASA is the architect, the actual manufacturing is handled by a network of thousands of private companies across the United States and Europe.

More than 2,700 suppliers are involved in the Artemis programme, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Airbus. 

Lockheed’s work on the Orion Crew Module

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the crew module where the four astronauts will live. 

Orion is the only human-rated spacecraft designed to carry astronauts into deep space and bring them home, which will be proven for the first time in the Artemis II Mission. 

Many components from the Artemis I Orion spacecraft are being reused, including nine avionics units and one seat. 

More than 150 parts of the craft have been 3D printed, an increase from the four that were part of its first test flight in 2014.

Augmented reality was used during Orion’s assembly to help reduce engineer training time and reduce some manufacturing tasks from eight hours to just 45 minutes. 

Airbus and the European Service Module

Airbus manufactured the European Service Module (ESM) which provides the Orion spacecraft’s power, propulsion and life support.

The ESM has 33 engines that provide thrust and propulsion to manoeuvre the Orion and four solar wings, each seven metres long, that generate 11.2 kW of electricity.

More than 20,000 parts and components are used in each ESM including around 12 kilometres of cables. 

The cleanroom facilities at Airbus’ Bremen site in Germany have been adjusted to be able to deliver one ESM per year and accommodate three at one time. 

ESM-2, made for the Artemis II Mission, was delivered to Florida in October 2021.

“Together with the European Space Agency, Airbus is providing half the spacecraft that will return humans to the Moon - taking them further than ever before into space and of course returning them safely to Earth,” says Marc Steckling, Head of Earth Observation, Science and Space Exploration at Airbus.

The ESM was connected with the Crew Module and underwent further extensive testing before being integrated with the launcher. 

Artemis II’s propulsion systems

Four RS-25 engines, refurbished from Space Shuttles, are set to be used alongside the solid rocket boosters for Artemis II on the bottom of the core stage.

These were designed and manufactured beginning in the 1970s by Aerojet Rocketdyne, now part of L3Harris Technologies, and have been upgraded for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. 

Engine 2047, which is on the Artemis II core stage, previously flew on 15 Space Shuttle missions including the final flight in 2011. 

The 212-foot-tall core stage was manufactured at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans by Boeing. 

This supplies propellants to support engine thrust, booster force and the weight of the Orion.

Boeing ordered caps for the oxygen and hydrogen tanks within the core stage made from an aluminium alloy from MT Aerospace.

This mission’s core stage was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center on 24 July 2024. 

Northrop Grumman built the twin solid rocket boosters, which provide more than 75% of the initial thrust.

Jim Kalberer, VP Propulsion Systems at Northrop Grumman, says: “The power and performance the Northrop Grumman-manufactured solid rocket boosters provide the SLS rocket is critical to America’s new age of exploration and building a sustainable human presence in deep space ahead of missions to Mars."

The company also manufactures the attitude control motor and abort motor for the Launch Abort System.

United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, built the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) which provides the final push toward the moon. 

This stage was manufactured at the rocket factory in Decatur, Alabama and then delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in March 2025.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building

The Orion spacecraft and SLS were stacked together inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center. 

This process began in late 2024 and continued for roughly a year.

The five-segment solid rocket boosters were assembled first and the core stage was then lifted and placed between the boosters. 

Next, the ICPS and Orion capsule were added to the launch vehicle. 

The rocket was then moved from the VAB to the launch pad over 12 hours at a maximum speed of just 0.82 mph in January 2026.

After testing and rehearsals, the rocket is ready to take the Artemis II crew around the moon.

All manufacturing leaders should attend:

• Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE: The Net Zero Summit - QEII Centre, London, 4-5 March 2026
• Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE: The US Summit - Navy Pier, Chicago, 21-22 April 2026

Co-located with Sustainability LIVE, these events bring together Chief Operations Officers, Chief Procurement Officers and senior decision-makers to discuss the strategies building the future. 

Book your tickets online today with group discounts available.