REDMOND, Wash. — The announcement of the Artemis III mission astronauts has Washington aerospace companies gearing up to establish a base on the moon.
Washington state companies are playing a significant role in NASA’s Artemis missions, an initiative focused on returning to the moon and establishing a sustained lunar presence.
Boeing, L3Harris Technologies and Blue Origin were named by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman as key contributors from the region during a recent announcement.
L3Harris, with operations in Redmond, is particularly involved-- working on propulsion for a host of different NASA craft.
The Artemis mission’s scope extends for many years, and there could be major developments in establishing a lunar base for decades. L3Harris’ Civil Space Director Joe Cassady confirmed that the company’s continuous work on Artemis ensures ongoing production and delivery of components to NASA out of its Redmond facility.
Cassady says the company is also developing electric propulsion for the Space Reactor-one Freedom, a nuclear spacecraft slated for launch in a few years.
Cassady detailed the long-term commitment required for the mission and for working on the lunar surface and eventually going to Mars.
“That’s going to take us out through the 2030s-- conservatively, out to the early 2030s-- as we’re building these things up,” Cassady said. “We’ve delivered the engines already for Artemis III. They’re already to go for the flight next year,“ Cassady stated.
Cassady emphasized the stability the project brings to the local workforce.
“It’s reassuring it’s not going to be a boom or bust program. I know in Seattle, we know what that’s like,” he said.
Cassady says one vision for the future is relatively basic. He says the company will need to develop propulsion for what would be a “space truck” to transport goods between Earth and the moon.
“So we have again the truck, Orion (spacecraft module for astronauts). We want to keep building the parts that they need and keep those in the pipeline and in the far, far future, we see those big cargo liners that we’re going to take back and forth,” Cassady explained.
The Redmond facility expects this mission to generate decades of work, potentially for generations of employees.
“We have a huge role out there in Redmond, we’re very excited to be part of it,” Cassady said.
Cassady said the company is currently hiring to meet NASA’s demands and more. One Artemis flight per year ensures a steady demand for L3Harris’s propulsion systems and other contributions.
The company anticipates decades of work, including the future development of large cargo liners for lunar transportation.