NASA plans to showcase an Orion stage adapter technology at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama before the space agency transfers the flight hardware to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The agency said Saturday it will display the spacecraft adapter at a media event on Tuesday ahead of preparations for the first integrated test flight of the Orion spacecraft with the Space Launch System rocket.
NASA will use a Super Guppy airplane to transport the flight article to KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building for hardware examination and the installation of secondary payloads prior to integration onto the SLS interim cryogenic propulsion stage to connect to the Orion spacecraft.
The adapter is built at the Marshall Space Flight Center using a friction stir welding platform and designed to accommodate up to 13 CubeSats and link SLS’ interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the spacecraft.
NASA noted the adapter will store the small deep-space exploration satellites until the Orion separates from the rocket.
The agency completed tests of the flight hardware’s CubeSats deployment avionics system.