Teledyne Brown Engineering was awarded an $85 million contract modification to supply NASA with two additional Launch Vehicle Stage Adapters for the Artemis II and III moon missions. The LVSA’s are the largest pieces of the current configuration of the Space Launch System and are to be built at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
Congressman Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, congratulated Teledyne Brown Engineering for their recent award to help the space agency return to the moon.
“Congratulations to the talented professionals at Teledyne Brown who were awarded an $85 million NASA contract to build two more Launch Vehicle Stage Adapters (LVSAs) for the Artemis II and Artemis III moon missions,” Brooks said.
According to Teledyne Brown Engineering, the LVSA provides the physical interface between the SLS Core Stage and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. It also serves as the critical separation system used to separate the Core Stage of the rocket from ICPS. The cone-shaped adapter is roughly 30 feet in diameter by 30 feet tall and consists of sixteen Aluminum-Lithium 2195 alloy panels.
“TBE is thrilled to be a part of the monumental Artemis spaceflight moon missions, providing its 2nd and 3rd LVSA units which further solidify our prominence in designing and building spaceflight hardware,” stated TBE President Jan Hess. “We are proud to continue our decades long partnership with MSFC, where our teams have worked tirelessly to help propel our nation beyond the Earth’s gravity.”
Artemis II is planned to launch in 2023 on a crewed mission to perform a lunar flyby. Artemis III is currently scheduled to launch in 2024, as the second crewed Artemis mission. It will include a landing at the Moon’s south polar region where two astronauts, including the first woman to walk on the moon, will reside for a week.
Teledyne Brown Engineering is contracted to provide the engineering, technical support and hardware to NASA for two additional LVSA units. The company delivered the LVSA Structural Test Article in 2016 and Flight Unit 1 in July 2020.
Teledyne Brown Engineering is an industry leader in full-spectrum engineering and advanced manufacturing solutions for harsh environments in space, defense, energy and maritime industries. For over six decades, the company has successfully delivered innovative systems, integration, operations and technology development worldwide.
President Donald Trump has prioritized a return to manned spaceflight with the Space Launch System and a return to the moon by 2024 and a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. It is not known how or if President-elect Joe Biden will change those priorities.
Brooks represents Alabama’s 5th Congressional District.
