The Orion Spacecraft

On March 21, 2011, Lockheed Martin unveiled the first Orion spacecraft.

The spacecraft will undergo testing in Denver to validate Orion's ability to endure the harsh environments of deep space. The Orion crew exploration vehicle is on schedule to conduct its first orbital flight test as early as 2013 and provide initial operational flights by 2016 as required by the NASA Authorization Act of 2010.

The spacecraft is an incredibly robust, technically advanced vehicle capable of safely transporting humans to asteroids, Lagrange Points and other deep space destinations.

Today's demonstrations featured simulated missions to an asteroid and the International Space Station using laser and optically guided robotic navigation systems.

Testing is underway for human and robotic missions to Earth-orbiting platforms, planets, moons or other bodies in our solar system. In addition, the center tests ranging, rendezvous, docking, proximity operations, imaging, descent and landing systems.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for Orion, a multipurpose exploration spacecraft capable of exploring destinations throughout our solar system. The Orion spacecraft comprises a crew module for crew and cargo transport; a service module for propulsion, electrical power and fluids storage; a spacecraft adapter for securing it to the launch vehicle, and a launch abort system that will significantly improve crew safety.

Since beginning work on NASA's Orion spacecraft, Lockheed Martin has independently and concurrently created a variety of scenarios to develop increasingly challenging missions for an affordable and sustainable path to Mars. Called Stepping Stones, the mission scenarios include Plymouth Rock, an asteroid mission; L-2 Farside, a mission to the Lagrangian Point over the farside of the moon; and Red Rocks, a mission to the moons of Mars that would complement robotic missions on the Martian surface.

Photos and Videos are available for download at: www.lockheedmartin.com/orion

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