Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Modules Joined at Kennedy Space Center
Technicians joined the Orion crew module and service module for Artemis III on July 30, 2026, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The crew module will carry NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, plus ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, while the European-built service module will power and propel Orion during the mission to test rendezvous and docking with test articles of the SpaceX Starship and Blue Origin Blue Moon HLS landers. NASA says the team will next power up the combined spacecraft for the first time before continuing integrated testing and final hardware installations. The Artemis III Orion spacecraft reuses more than 250 components from the Artemis II capsule.
Media
Sources
- T1 NASA — Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Models Joined Official western
- T1 NASA — NASA Joins Artemis III Orion Modules; Rocket Hardware Update Official western
- T2 Tech Times — Artemis III Orion Modules Joined: Europe's Engine Must Now Insert Crew Into Orbit Major western