newslink: ESA has Delivered the First Orion Service Module to NASA

The powerhouse that will help NASA’s Orion spacecraft venture beyond the Moon is stateside. The European-built service module that will propel, power and cool during Orion flight to the Moon on Exploration Mission-1 arrived from Germany at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday to begin final outfitting, integration and testing with the crew module and other Orion elements.

The service module is integral to human missions to the Moon and Mars. After Orion launches on top of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket, the service module will be responsible for in-space maneuvering throughout the mission, including course corrections. The service module will also provide the powerful burns to insert Orion into lunar orbit and again to get out of lunar orbit and return to Earth. It is provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and built by ESA’s prime contractor Airbus of Bremen, Germany. NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, Lockheed Martin, built the crew module and other elements of the spacecraft.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2018/11/10/europeanbuilt-service-module-arrives-orion-moon-mission/

It should be noted the construction of the Service Module is a swap NASA did with ESA. ESA was on the hook for more resupply missions to the International Space Station. In exchange for not having to do them, ESA is building the first few service modules for NASA for the Orion space missions. NASA will be doing the resupply of the station in lieu of ESA. While this probably saves both parties money, it definitely does for ESA.