For the first time, NASA is reaching out to a foreign space agency for help building a vehicle to launch astronauts into deep space.

NASA has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) on its Orion spacecraft, a new capsule to carry people beyond Earth orbit to the moon, an asteroid, and to Mars. While NASA and its contractor Lockheed Martin will continue building the crew capsule of Orion, the spacecraft's service module will be taken over by Europe. The service module is a vital component that provides the power, thermal and propulsion systems for the Orion capsule.

The spacecraft is designed to be launched by a NASA heavy-lift rocket called the Space Launch System, which is also under development now.

"We are opening a new page in transatlantic cooperation, [with] ESA being involved in the building of a U.S. space transportation system," Thomas Reiter, a former ESA astronaut and director of the agency's human spaceflight office, said today (Jan. 16) in a NASA briefing. "We are very much aware that a lot of difficult and complicated work is still ahead of us, but that is very inspiring and I think all of us are looking forward to this fantastic endeavor." [Graphic: Orion Explained]

Won't be easy

NASA and ESA already have a long history of cooperation on the International Space Station. The $100 billion orbiting laboratory is a joint project of 15 different countries represented by the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

"With space station we've learned the real meaning of cooperation," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations. "It's actually giving up a piece of the work you're going to do, and actually counting on your partner to deliver."

Gerstenmaier admitted that the novel situation will likely prove challenging.

"I'm a realist and I know that this won't be easy," he said. "It's not 100-percent comfortable, but I'm never 100-percent comfortable, so it's okay, and we're doing it smartly."

One of the chief sources of difficulty will be managing the integration of the two spacecraft elements into one working vehicle. Gerstenmaier said the two space agencies had devoted significant thought to choosing the best meeting points and interfaces between the Orion crew capsule and service module to enable the elements to work together seamlessly.

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NASA-European Partnership on Deep-Space Capsule a First