Home / Themes / Earth prep · AIT & integration Theme
Earth prep · AIT & integration
Building and qualifying the stack on Earth - assembly, integration, test, and payload hang before launch.
Cargo Maps lunar minerals and volatiles from a Lunar Terrain Vehicle. · CX-2 Lunar Terrain Vehicle Delivery · NET late 2020s (schedule TBD) Active-passive microwave spectrometer for subsurface structure and ice prospecting from a Lunar Terrain Vehicle. · CX-2 Lunar Terrain Vehicle Delivery · NET late 2020s (schedule TBD) Blue Origin's Florida lunar plant stacks MK1 and supports MK2 assembly, alongside Kent and Huntsville. · Artemis III · NET 2027 Jobs Spaceflight Industries arranged Falcon 9 secondary payload launch integration for SpaceIL Beresheet. Amentum EGS path: vehicle integration, processing, testing, launch, and recovery at KSC for SLS + Orion (NASA Artemis partners). Jacobs named on NASA Artemis partners industrial contractor list for exploration systems / ground path (with Amentum, Bechtel). Airborne Systems makes the parachutes that lower Orion into the ocean after reentry. NASA CA recognition: Votaw fabricated Orion crew module barrels for Artemis I path. Aerojet Rocketdyne high-pressure helium tanks that inflate Orion flotation for water recovery (NASA Artemis partners). Northrop Grumman produces the launch abort motor and attitude control motor for Orion Launch Abort System (NASA Artemis partners). Aerojet Rocketdyne provides the jettison motor for Orion Launch Abort System (NASA Artemis partners). Crew launch abort system for Orion. LeFiell company path: qualified supplier of combustion-chamber coolant tubes for engines powering SLS. L3Harris industrial ownership path for Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines on SLS core (NASA partners + RS-25 reference). Custom tube forming for SLS core stage fluid systems - manufacturing process shop under Boeing core stage assembly. VACCO manufactures specialty valves for SLS core stage liquid propellant tanks, pre-valves, cryogenic fluid control products, and quick disconnects (NASA CA. AMRO Karman machining/welding path on SLS hardware (same multi-source as Orion contribution - dual-assembly manufacturing lab). Metalex Manufacturing (Cincinnati) provides precision machining, fabrication, and assembly for SLS, including a large titanium 4-port manifold (NASA OSBP SLS. Rubbercraft runs an environmentally controlled room for mixing space-grade elastomers under cleanliness rules. Rubbercraft makes seals and ablatives for launch and space. ispace Series 1/2 lander design and AIT spanning Japan operations with Europe (Luxembourg) micro-rover integration path for M2. JAL Engineering provided lander development/assembly facility and technical support at Narita for Hakuto-R Mission 1 path. Larsen & Toubro manufactured critical solid booster segments (head-end, middle, nozzle bucket flange) for LVM3-M4 that launched Chandrayaan-3 - company page +. Astrobotic Pittsburgh lunar logistics HQ for Peregrine and Griffin design, payload integration, and AIT. Celestis flew a memorial service, Luna-02, as commercial cargo on Peregrine Mission One. Dayton T. MoonBox is Astrobotic's commercial service for flying small personal items and time capsules as cargo. Dynetics selected to integrate thrusters, tanks, feed systems into Peregrine propulsion (2018 public selection path). Astrobotic designed and built the Peregrine lander in Pittsburgh, including structure, avionics integration, and assembly for Mission One and later vehicles. Intuitive Machines Lunar Production and Operations Center (Houston Spaceport / Ellington) for Nova lander fabrication and AIT. Intuitive Machines in-house Nova-C avionics and GNC for autonomous landing - core OEM systems engineering claim. Firefly vertical-integration claim for Blue Ghost power and solar resources supporting payload ops through lunar day. Firefly Aerospace Cedar Park TX spacecraft facility for Blue Ghost design, build, cleanroom AIT, and mission ops. Firefly shipped Blue Ghost M1 with 10 NASA payloads to NASA JPL for environmental testing before Cape Canaveral launch campaign. RMIT University designed, assembled, and is qualifying ALEPH-1 as Lunaria One’s primary technical partner. Southwest Research Institute Magnetic Anomaly Plasma Spectrometer on the Lunar Vertex lander at Reiner Gamma. Goddard GNSS receiver (~1.6 kg / 3.5 lb) delivered to IM 13 Jul 2026 for Altus-1 integration. Intuitive Machines Nova-C Trinity lander delivery for IM-3. Blue Origin builds the Blue Moon MK1 cargo lander in-house, including structure and assembly at Kent and the Florida lunar plant. Blue Origin develops and assembles Blue Moon at Kent, Washington, with the Florida lunar plant and Huntsville propulsion. NASA booked two instruments as cargo on Blue Origin's company-funded MK1 lander: SCALPSS cameras and a laser retroreflector. Blue Origin's Florida lunar plant stacks MK1 and supports MK2 assembly, alongside Kent and Huntsville. Program-level CLPS task order for Griffin Mission 1. Astrobotic states Griffin propulsion tubing, cabling, and harnessing primarily manufactured in-house during structural integration. Blue Moon MK1 completed thermal-vacuum testing in NASA Johnson's Chamber. Arizona State University instrument selected July 2025 for integration onto a NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle. Firefly stacked Blue Ghost on Elytra Dark, with Lunar Pathfinder in the stack, and ran the full assembly through environmental tests at NASA JPL. NASA JPL vibration-tested a full-scale Blue Ghost, Elytra, and Lunar Pathfinder stack for launch loads. Selected July 2025 for integration onto a NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle. Advanced Navigation LUNA (Laser Unit for Navigation Aid) is named for Intuitive Machines IM-4 as a lander-side laser altitude and 3D-velocity sensor. Sophic Synergistics provides human-factors and human-systems integration on Axiom's xEVAS AxEMU team. KBR is on Axiom's xEVAS team. SpaceX Starbase TX (and multi-site) development and AIT path for Starship HLS/cargo architecture under NASA HLS. NASA CS-8 multi-award Moon Base science preview: Astrobotic package + Firefly BG-M5 + IM-6 delivery awards (public June-class release). Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) PRISM-class suite on Blue Ghost M3 / CP-21 Gruithuisen Domes - rover+lander cameras, radiometer. NASA CS-6 science package on Firefly Blue Ghost M4: dual rovers + LIMS + SCALPSS + LRA to lunar south pole (delivery TO separate). NASA CT-4 package: seven science/technology payloads on IM-5 Nova-D to south pole / Mons Malapert class (~$180.4M delivery TO). IABG's Ottobrunn Space Centre runs thermal-vacuum, vibration, acoustic, and EMC tests for space hardware. Flights Beresheet 2019-02-22 · SpaceIL / IAI Beresheet - private/national hybrid soft-landing attempt. Artemis I 2022-11-16 · First integrated Artemis flight test: uncrewed SLS Block 1 + Orion. Hakuto-R Mission 1 2022-12-11 · Private Japanese lander. Chandrayaan-3 2023-07-14 · ISRO national soft-landing mission near lunar south polar highlands. Peregrine Mission One 2024-01-08 · First CLPS launch. IM-1 Odysseus 2024-02-15 · IM-1 Odysseus (TO2-IM): first commercial soft landing (Feb 2024). Hakuto-R Mission 2 Resilience 2025-01-15 · Commercial payloads ~$16M. Blue Ghost Mission 1 2025-01-15 · Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 (TO19D ~$93.3M): Falcon 9 launch 2025-01-15 · soft landing (upright) Mare Crisium 2025-03-02 · all 10 NASA. IM-2 Athena 2025-02-27 · IM-2 Athena (PRIME-1 path): south polar attempt (Mar 2025). Artemis II 2026-04-01 · First crewed Artemis flight: SLS + Orion lunar flyby. IM-3 Trinity NET H2 2026 · Intuitive Machines IM-3 (CLPS CP-11): Nova-C Trinity - NASA Moon Base III. Griffin-1 (Moon Base II) NET late 2026 · Astrobotic / Voyager Lunar Systems Griffin Mission One - NASA Moon Base II. Blue Moon MK1 Endurance (Moon Base I) NET fall 2026 · Blue Origin Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance - NASA Moon Base I. Blue Ghost Mission 2 NET 2027 · Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2 (CS-3 ~$112M, charter-bg2): planned far-side dual-stack (Blue Ghost stacked on Elytra Dark + ESA Lunar. CX-2 Lunar Terrain Vehicle Delivery NET late 2020s (schedule TBD) · NASA CX-2 CLPS path for Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) delivery architecture (exploration-led). IM-4 NET ~2027 · Six NASA science payloads to Mons Mouton / south polar highlands. Artemis III NET 2027 · First crewed Artemis lunar landing architecture (SLS + Orion + HLS). VIPER on Blue Moon (CS-7) NET late 2027 (contingent) · VIPER polar rover on second Blue Moon MK1 (CS-7). Starship Lunar Cargo (HLS path) NET late 2020s-2030s (HLS path) · SpaceX Starship lunar architecture: NASA HLS crew lander path (Option A/B) plus heavy cargo configurations. Blue Ghost Mission 5 (Moon Base CS-8) NET ~2028 (CS-8 Moon Base) · 2028 Moon Base batch Firefly delivery. IM-6 (Moon Base CS-8) NET ~2028 (CS-8 Moon Base) · 2028 Moon Base batch. Peregrine Mission 3 (Moon Base CS-8) NET ~2028-2029 (CS-8 Moon Base) · Astrobotic Peregrine Mission 3 under NASA Moon Base / CS-8 batch. Peregrine Mission 2 (Moon Base CS-8) NET ~2028 (CS-8 Moon Base) · Astrobotic Peregrine Mission 2 under NASA Moon Base / CS-8 batch (public award packaging). Blue Ghost Mission 3 NET ~2028 · Six NASA science payloads to Gruithuisen Domes. Artemis IV NET 2028 · National crewed lunar landing architecture after Artemis III. Blue Ghost Mission 4 NET ~2029 · South-pole CLPS with multiple rovers (MoonRanger, CSA path) and instruments. IM-5 Nova-D NET ~2030 class · First cargo-class Nova-D CLPS. Artemis V NET ~2030 class · NASA names Artemis V as the flight that delivers ESA Lunar View to Gateway and flies the third crewed lunar surface expedition.