The Crew Capsule for NASA’s Orion spacecraft accommodates up to four astronauts and is powered by the European Service Module, providing a safe habitat during launch, on-orbit operations, landing, and recovery. Orion is NASA’s next spacecraft for sending humans into space and is part of the Artemis program, designed to take astronauts farther than ever before, beyond the Moon and to the lunar Gateway.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for designing and overseeing the development of Orion’s service module, which supplies air, electricity, and propulsion. Similar to how a train engine pulls passenger carriages and provides power, the European Service Module will transport the Orion capsule to its destination and back.

NASA builds the Orion spacecraft while ESA supplies the service module. The crew module, often referred to as the capsule, is the pressurized section where the crew will live and work during their journey to the Moon and back.