NASA Just Ordered Three More Orion Capsules, for Artemis VI, VII, and VIII

NASA has ordered three more spaceships for future Artemis missions, according to the announcement. The Artemis VI, VII and VII missions will be launched in the late 2020s to early 2030s. There are three more capsule that are on order.

NASA andLockheed Martin are working together to deliver a new generation of spaceships. The order includes spacecraft, mission planning and support, as well as taking us into the 2030s. On the eve of a historic launch kicking off the Artemis era, this contract shows NASA is making long-term plans towards living and working on the Moon, while also having a forward focus on getting humans to Mars.

Artemis I will get off the ground before this order arrives. The Artemis I test flight is scheduled for November 14th. Hurricane Ian forced NASA to roll the giant Space Launch System rocket back to safety inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center after two previous attempts were canceled.

The original order for the first capsule was received in September of 2019.

The life-support systems in the command module will allow the astronauts to travel to deep space and into the moon in the future. A capsule was used in a test flight. The first woman and the next man are going to be sent to the moon.

If Artemis I goes well, NASA will announce the crew and schedule for a crewed Artemis II flight around the Moon in 2024 and the crewed Artemis III moon landing mission in 2025.

The cost of the capsule was over $2 billion. The new capsule can be built for less, according to the company.

"We are able to achieve substantial cost savings from Artemis III through Artemis VIII by extensive structure and system reuse and incorporating advanced digital design and manufacturing processes." The Artemis II vehicle will reuse parts from the Artemis I crew module and the Artemis III pressure vessel capsule will be completely refurbished for the Artemis VI mission.

Material and component bulk buys from suppliers will be used to drive out cost from these production vehicles.

The Artemis II and III are going to be assembled. Work on the Artemis IV craft includes welding the pressure vessel together at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, and preliminary work on the Artemis V vehicle has begun.