Orion spacecraft with ESA’s service module

An artist’s impression of the Orion spacecraft with ESA’s service module. The module sits directly below Orion’s crew capsule and provides propulsion, power, thermal control, and water and air for four astronauts. The solar array spans 19 m and provides enough to power two households. A little over 5 m in diameter and 4 m high, it weighs 13.5 tonnes. The 8.6 tonnes of propellant will power one main engine and 32 smaller thrusters. The European Service Module is adapted from Europe’s largest spacecraft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, which completed its last mission to the International Space Station in February 2015. The first Orion launch is planned as part of NASA's Artemis-1 (formerly Exploration Mission EM-1), which would see the Orion capsule orbit the moon, and is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.