The Bremen Airbus plant has reached a significant milestone for manned spaceflight. The third European Service Module (ESM), intended for NASA's moon mission under the Artemis program, has been successfully shipped to the USA. There, the module will be prepared for the next step in the lunar landing, where astronauts are set to walk on the moon's surface for the first time since the 1970s.

The European Service Module (ESM), developed and built on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), plays a central role in the mission. It provides the Orion spacecraft with propulsion, power, and thermal regulation, and ensures that the astronauts are supplied with water and oxygen during their journey. The module is installed beneath the crew capsule, and together they form the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to be used for the planned Moon landing in September 2026.

The Artemis III mission marks a historic return to the lunar surface. Two of the four crew members are to spend about a week on the Moon during the mission to gain new scientific insights and lay the foundation for future manned missions.

In the wake of this announcement, Airbus stock showed a slight decline on the XETRA platform, with a decrease of 0.13 percent to 138.88 euros.