Orion
The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is a spacecraft intended to carry a crew of up to four[2] astronauts to destinations at or beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Currently under development by NASA[9] for launch on the Space Launch System,[10] Orion is currently intended to facilitate human exploration of asteroids and of Mars, as well as to provide a means of delivering or retrieving crew or supplies from the ISS if needed.[11]
The MPCV was announced by NASA on May 24, 2011.[11] Its design is based on the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle from the cancelled Constellation program.[12] It has two main modules. The Orion command module is being built by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.[13] The Orion service module, provided by the European Space Agency,[14][15] is being built by Airbus Defence and Space.
The MPCV’s first test flight (uncrewed), known as Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), was launched atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket on December 5, 2014 on a flight lasting 4 hours and 24 minutes, landing at its target in the Pacific Ocean at 10:29 Central[3][4][16][17] (delayed from the previous day due to technical and weather problems[18]). The first mission to carry astronauts is not expected to take place until 2021 at the earliest.[19]
