Teams from ESA, Airbus, NASA and Lockheed Martin stand before the service module for Artemis III at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Last week, ESA officially handed over its third European Service Module to NASA. The module will power Orion on Artemis III, the mission set to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years.

The handover took place on 10 September during the third quarterly European Service Module project meeting of the year at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US. Each European Service Module is the result of thousands of hours of design, engineering and testing, a testament to the scale of teamwork required to bring astronauts safely to the Moon and back. While largely a formality, the event marks a significant milestone, underlining the acceptance of the module by NASA as well as highlighting the dedication of the many teams across Europe and the United States who are bringing the spacecraft to life.

The third European Service Module was integrated by Airbus in Bremen, Germany, with contributions from industry all over Europe. Sailing across the Atlantic, the module arrived at Kennedy Space Center last summer, where it was joined with Orion’s crew module adapter to form the complete service module. Since then, the module has been through rigorous testing, such as environmental and life support checks, to ensure the overall system is working properly.

Over the coming months, engineers will install the module’s four solar array wings, developed by Airbus in the Netherlands, and continue vital tests, as well as integrate the service module with Orion’s crew module.

As Artemis III moves forward, work on earlier and future missions continues. Final preparations for Artemis II are underway, with the mission launch planned by April next year. Meanwhile, the fourth European Service Module is being finalised in Bremen and will be shipped to the United States later this year.

With the third European Service Module now in NASA’s hands, Europe continues to play a vital role in enabling humankind’s return to deep space exploration.