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January 21st, 2020

Collins Aerospace Assists Lockheed Martin to Achieve NASA's 'Boots on the Moon' Goal


Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to provide critical subsystems to support production of NASA’s Orion spacecraft fleet for Artemis missions III through VIII.

Valued at $320 million, the systems being provided by Collins Aerospace will play an important role in enabling NASA’s goal of boots on the Moon by 2024, as well as establishing a sustained presence on and around the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.

The key subsystems for Orion to be provided by Collins Aerospace include:

  • Environmental control and life support systems that maintain a healthy and comfortable environment for the crew both in the spacecraft cabin and while isolated in launch and re-entry suits
  • Active thermal control systems, which provide liquid circulation throughout the spacecraft picking up waste heat from the crew and vehicle electronics
  • Power management and distribution hardware, providing power connectivity from external power sources and conditioned power to the crew and service modules
  • Waste management systems to promote crew member comfort and vehicle cleanliness


NASA's Orion spacecraft which will venture thousands of miles beyond the moon during Exploration Mission-1, its first mission atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket. Artistic rendition is courtesy of NASA.

Kevin Raftery, VP and GM, ISR and Space Solutions for Collins Aerospace, said the company has been providing life-sustaining solutions for space for 50 years and the firm is proud to be working with Lockheed Martin and NASA to enable decades of future exploration to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Work for the systems being provided for Orion will be performed at Collins Aerospace facilities in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Houston, Texas, Rockford, Illinois, and San Dimas, California.