Commercial Vendors Tout Tech Roles in Artemis 2 Mission

Commercial technology played a central role in powering Artemis 2 as the agency recently pushed for growing those partnerships as part of its recent budget request.

“Thanks to an extremely healthy commercial launch market, we’re able to look at how we can do observation and communication in the future at far lower cost,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told lawmakers last week. “Thanks to several companies … we can buy services at lower cost and free up resources again to do the near impossible.”

Artemis 2 — the program’s first crewed mission — sent four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby to test life support, navigation and emergency procedures in deep space. Commercial technologies enabled trajectory analysis, spacecraft resiliency and communication.

NASA technicians began de-servicing operations this week on the Orion crew module spacecraft after arriving at NASA Kennedy’s Multi-Processing Payload Facility on April 10, removing payloads and retrieving performance data to inform future missions.

“Artemis II is the opening act in America’s return to the moon. The mobile launcher is preparing to go back to the Vehicle Assembly Building where Artemis III will start being assembled. The next crew will prepare to play their part as we return to the lunar surface and build the base,” Isaacman said following the spacecraft’s landing.

AWS and Trajectory Analysis

NASA flight science officials used AWS GovCloud as the primary compute platform to help with trajectory analysis. AWS CEO Matt Garman said in a LinkedIn post that officials use precision calculations to ensure Orion stayed on its exact path through its journey.

“This is especially critical in the first 48 hours after launch. I’m proud of the role that AWS played in supporting that mission. As NASA looks ahead to the planned lunar landing in 2028, we’re honored to support what comes next,” Garman wrote. He added that the 4K footage and images of the lunar surface were transmitted over the AWS global network.

RocketLab and Advanced Solar Cells

As post-flight assessments for Artemis 2 continue, engineers are advancing testing on the Artemis 3 Orion crew module, including thermal cycle evaluations and deployment checks of all four solar array wings. Those arrays are powered by advanced solar cells developed by industry partners.

RocketLab Vice President of Business Development Navid Fatemi told GovCIO Media & Research that the advanced cells convert solar wavelengths into energy more efficiently than traditional silicon solar cells used on Earth. The system generated roughly 16 kilowatts of power, supporting Orion’s propulsion, thermal control and life-support systems, including onboard air and water.

Fatemi said the technology must withstand extreme conditions, from launch through deep space travel and atmospheric reentry, making durability as critical as efficiency.

“Solar rays are the only components that stick out of the spacecraft bus. The rest of the components are inside and somewhat shielded. They need to be radiation hard to survive the environment and extreme temperatures of space,” said Fatemi.

AT&T and Communication Support

Melissa Baldwin, director of sales and programs for Aviation and Transportation at AT&T, told GovCIO Media & Research that AT&T engineers worked hand-in-hand with NASA to to ensure resilience across ground communication systems.

AT&T’s space legacy spans over six decades including pioneering early satellite communications to support NASA missions, including the Apollo Moon landing. 

“Having that interaction at the customer level means everything and making sure that something like launch operations go flawlessly because there’s no room for error when there’s human life at stake. Everything has to go perfectly, and I think that successful government and industry partnerships make that happen,” said Baldwin.

Baldwin said AT&T supports NASA’s network backbone, including terrestrial and radio wave circuits that enable communication across Kennedy Space Center during launch operations.

“We showed NASA the exact route that data was going to transmit and ensure there were no points of failure. We made sure there were redundant circuits to ensure if circuits collapsed that NASA was fully aware of and they had a fallback strategy within their network,” said Baldwin. 

FirstNet and Emergency Management Operations

NASA’s Protective Services and Emergency Management teams partnered with FirstNet, built on AT&T infrastructure, to ensure reliable connectivity for first responders. FirstNet ensured the campus networks could handle the tens of thousands of additional users and devices on site for launch day. 

Chris Stratmann, associate director of FirstNet’s Response Operations Group, told GovCIO Media & Research the team conducted site visits ahead of the launch to help NASA anticipate potential challenges.

“We’ve worked with NASA for years prior to the Artemis 2 launch, but this request for support was the most comprehensive yet. It was an honor to support their latest mission with portable network assets from the dedicated FirstNet fleet,” said Stratmann. 

FirstNet, unlike commercial carriers, provides deployable network assets like satellite-enabled mobile units reserved exclusively for public safety use. These systems boosted network capacity across Kennedy Space Center while maintaining dedicated, reliable communications for emergency personnel.

“We’re held to a higher standard because we’re not a commercial offering to first responders. It’s a unique network purposefully developed with and for the public safety community. And with these assets deployed at Kennedy Space Center for the Artemis II launch, we boosted capacity for public safety and provided reliable, dedicated connectivity,” said Stratmann.